Tainted
by Methos2523
Summary: After a heroic act in New York leaves Xander hospitalised, the staff have to chose over letting the cities newest hero die, or risk creating another monster...
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Tainted

DISCLAIMER: All things BtVS belong to Joss Whedon, The Hulk, She Hulk and all characters and histories involved belong to Marvel comics and a bunch of people. All I own is the twisted idea...

RATING: FR18

* * *

August 17, 1999

"One Alexander Lavelle Harris," Detective Benson frowned as she read off his driver's license, her partner, Detective Stabler cocked an eyebrow at the middle name but didn't say anything out of respect.

"Eighteen, from Sunnydale California," Benson continued with a nod.

"How's he doing doc?" Stabler asked as the doctor came over with several papers, obviously the test results from the exams they have already performed.

"Not good detective," The doctor said sadly. "Multiple contusions and lacerations, while some of the scars on his body seem to be months, even years old, the fresh trauma to his back and neck are what's worrying me."

"He saved two little girls," Stabler said, his tone dripping with respect for the young man that was lying unconscious in the hospital bed not ten feet from where they were standing. "Took down the creep that was assaulting them, if he hadn't been there then." He trailed off, not wanting to think about what would had happened to the two nine year old girls if Alexander hadn't interfered.

"I understand detective," The doctor nodded. "Mr Harris has lost a lot of blood in addition to the spinal injuries he suffered in the fight. We need to operate, quickly, but we have to stabilise him first before we can risk any invasive procedures."

"So stabilise him then," Stabler frowned. It didn't seem like much of a decision to him, stabilise the kid and then operate, clean and simple. As far as he was concerned, the kid was a hero, putting his own life on the line for two kids, he deserved the best treatment he could get.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple detective," The doctor explained, staring Stabler directly in the eye to let him know how serious this was. "Mr Harris has an extremely rare blood type, one I've only seen once or twice before. A genetic quirk if you will, we don't have any blood here that would transfuse correctly."

"And without the blood transfusion?" Benson asked in a quiet voice.

"He'll die," The doctor said in an equally quiet voice. "His body is hanging on, but without the blood he won't survive the operation necessary to repair the damage to his spine, my guess is, he has about a week, maybe less."

"How rare is the blood type?" Stabler asked, already planning a press conference to ask for donors.

"Two, maybe three percent of the population." The Doctor said with a frown as he cut of whatever Stabler was about to say. "Of the world detective, not New York."

Stabler visibly deflated at this news; the odds of finding someone with a compatible blood type were low, extremely low in the time needed to save him. "Is there anything we can do for him?"

"We've tried to contact his family, unsuccessfully. But unless a suitable donor can be found, I don't like his chances." The Doctor frowned as his beeper went off. "Excuse me detectives." He nodded to both of them before moving off down the hallway.

"This isn't right Liv," Stabler frowned as he leaned against the glass door and looked in at the unconscious body of the teen lying on the bed. Various machines were hooked up all around him, tubes running into his arm and mouth along with various diode sensors along his head and chest. "Kid shouldn't have to diebecause of what he did."

"You heard the doctor Elliot," Olivia sighed. "There's nothing we can do without a blood transfusion."

"Yeah," Elliot nodded, not taking his eyes off the body for a second. "It's just…"

"Detectives," The Doctor called out as he came back over. "There was something else I wanted to mention, Mr Harris' blood type, I have seen it before in New York."

"Great, where?" Olivia asked as Stabler's eyes lit up in a flicker of hope.

"Jennifer Walters," The Doctor said with a frown.

"You're kidding me," Elliot's eyes widened at this. "As in…"

"The same," The doctor nodded. "If you can find her, and convince her to provide a blood transfusion. She may be able to save this young man's life."

"Great," Olivia nodded. "Any ideas where we can find Ms Walters?"

"You're kidding right?" Elliot sighed. "I forgot, you weren't around back then."

"Back then?" Olivia frowned. "What, is she someone famous then?"

"You could say that," Elliot nodded as he led the way out of the hospital. "Back in the early nineties, I was just a rookie back then. Jen Walters was working for Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway. We had a couple of run ins with her and the DA, nothing major though, she was a good lawyer, one with actual morals and ethics."

"An honest lawyer, who'd of thought." Olivia nodded as they left the hospital and Elliot opened the car door for her.

"Back then, about ninety two or something, can't really remember, she was working for this guy who was being targeted by the mob, we tried to arrange a protection detail but honest cops were hard to come by back then. Most of the old precinct were under the thumb." Elliot frowned as he remembered the old days when the mob practically ran New York. "There was a shoot-out at the offices, mob pretty much killed everyone who was in there."

"I remember hearing about that," Olivia nodded. "Made the national news, the mob wiped out an entire law firm in one hit."

"Nearly," Elliot nodded. "One survivor."

"Jennifer Walters," Olivia guessed correctly.

"Multiple gunshot wounds, they left her for dead. They got her to a hospital in time to stabilise her, but she'd lost too much blood."

"Like Alexander," Olivia nodded.

"Yeah," Elliot frowned. "They found a match though, her cousin. Gave her a blood transfusion and saved her life."

"Great, so where is she now, or her cousin, as they obviously share the same blood type." Olivia smiled, this was the first ray of hope they'd had about Alexander's condition since they'd found him in the abandoned warehouse by the docks.

"Her cousin, Doctor Bruce Banner," Elliot snorted as Olivia's eyes widened.

"Yeah, that one."

"Then, she's…. she's…"

"Exactly," Elliot frowned. "The doctors never did find out if it was the transfusion or the irradiated blood from Bruce that caused the same effect in Ms Walters. But I think it's safe to say that getting a transfusion from Doctor Banner is out of the question."

"And Ms Walters?" Olivia asked. "Would the same happen to Alexander?"

"No clue," Elliot frowned. "That's the doc's department not mine. My guess is that she either knows, or doesn't want to find out."

"Let's ask her then." Olivia set her jaw, there was no way she was going to let Mr Harris die just because there might be a chance that the mutated blood in Jennifer Walters might have the same effect on him. For all they knew, it was a freak occurrence caused by the fact that Doctor Banner and Jennifer shared enough genetic markers for it to take hold.

"I plan on doing just that." Elliot nodded as he continued the drive back to the squad room.

* * *

"How is he?" Captain Cragan asked as he walked through the squad room to see Elliot and Olivia walk in.

"Not good," Olivia answered as Elliot immediately sat down at his desk and started typing away on the computer. "He needs a blood transfusion, without it he won't make it."

"And I'm guessing there's a problem." Cragan frowned. He'd already been fielding phone calls from the Mayor and Chief of police all morning, the way the newspapers were reporting this were making Mr Harris out to be some sort of superhero. The brass were already talking about honouring him in some ceremony or something, basically a PR stunt for them masked under the guise of saying thank you to the young man.

"He's got a rare blood type," Elliot answered without looking up from his computer. "The doctor only knows of two people with the same type."

"Get them down here then." Cragan frowned. This kid had saved two young girls from a repeat paedophile, as far as he was concerned that gave him more than enough right to ask for a blood transfusion from anyone.

"You might not want them here," Elliot frowned as he looked up from the computer. "Doctor Bruce Banner and Ms Jennifer Walters."

"You mean…" Cragan trailed off as Elliot nodded.

"Yeah, kid's got the same blood type as The Hulk and She-Hulk." Elliot sighed as he looked at the computer screen. "Last reported Hulk sighting was somewhere in Brazil two months ago, nothing since then."

"Ms Walters?" Cragan asked with a wince, unable to actually fathom that he was actually thinking about inviting either Hulk to his city. If push came to shove though, Ms Walters was the better of the two, at least she could control the transformation when she wanted and had some measure of control in her other form, unlike her cousin.

"Appears to be registered in LA." Elliot answered with a raised eyebrow. "Working at some law firm down there, somehow they must have got her reinstated. Wolfram and Hart."

"You don't want to deal with them." Alexandra Cabbot said as she walked across, having been half listening to the conversation from the doorway for a while. "Trust me, they're the worst of the worst. Think every bad story you've heard about lawyers, times that by a hundred and that's what you'll be dealing with."

"That bad huh?" Elliot frowned as he looked at the assistant DA that had been working with them for several years now.

"Worse," Alexandra nodded. "What is it you want with them?"

"We need one of their lawyers." Olivia explained. "Medical reasons, we need to get her to agree to a blood transfusion."

"The hero kid?" Alexandra guessed and was rewarded with both detectives nodding at her. "I can put in a few calls, no telling if I'll hear anything back or not."

"Do what you can," Cragan nodded. "I'll call the brass and explain the situation, if this goes how I think it will, they'll want Harris moved out of state for the transfusion."

"Won't happen," Elliot shook his head. "Without the blood they can't operate, without the operation he'll die within a week. The damage to his neck and spine were too severe."

"Let me get this straight," Cragan sighed. "We've got a choice of either bringing the She-Hulk back to New York, or letting a hero who saved two nine year old girls die."

"Sums it up." Elliot nodded.

"I'll start making calls." Cragan said as he started walking back towards his office. "We're going to need to serious public support on this one, if it were anyone else I'd say you haven't a hope, but with how the papers are playing up Harris."

"We'll get on it." Olivia nodded.

* * *

August 20, 1999

Three days had passed now with no word from anyone, even the top brass were getting antsy with the newspaper coverage now on a daily basis talking about Alexander Harris and how nothing was being done to save his life.

Reporters were camped outside the hospital permanently now, making Elliot's daily visit to see Alex even harder than before. He'd lost count of the amount of times he'd stated firmly 'no comment' to a newspaper reporter or some local news anchor trying to get a big story.

"Just hang in there," Elliot muttered to the unconscious boy as he sighed and leaned on the glass window, looking down out of the hospital window at the media circus camped outside. It didn't seem right, he'd put his life on the line to save two children from sexual assault, and the brass were more worried about what might happen if The Hulk or She-Hulk came to New York.

At least the media were actually on their side for once, newspapers and shows were regularly showing updates of Alex's condition, talking about how the Chief of Police and the Mayor of New York were doing nothing to save the young mans life. Even the families of the two girls he'd saved were coming by regularly, doing what they could to help him. They'd donated money, along with half of New York, towards the hospital and the medical care that Alex desperately needed, though it still fell down to the blood.

"Detective Stabler?"

Elliot turned around, his mouth immediately going dry and his eyes widening at the sight before him.

Stood in the doorway was a woman, more like an amazon from what he could see. Seeing her like this really put it in perspective, it was nothing like he remembered or the photos he'd seen of her. She was huge, easily over eight feet tall. Her skin and hair were dark green and the obvious muscles underneath her expensively tailored suit bulged as she ducked under the doorway and moved into the room.

"Hi, I'm..."

"Jennifer Walters," Elliot managed to say without squeaking like a mouse as she held out her hand for him to shake.

"I guess my reputation still precedes me," The She-Hulk smiled slightly before turning to look at the young man on the bed. "Is this him?"

"Yes… yes." Elliot had to try twice to get the words out as he loosened his tie and undid the top button on his shirt.

"I got the message from your DA," The She-Hulk nodded as she looked at the unconscious young man. "Is what the newspapers saying true?"

"He saved two young girls," Elliot nodded, still a bit in awe at the sheer presence and strength the woman in front of him radiated. He was almost shocked at the tenderness of the motion as she reached out and stroked some hair away from his eyes. "A paedophile was holding them captive; he'd raped three girls previously. From what we can piece together, he must have stumbled on the perp and the girls in the warehouse district; we don't know what he was doing there though, no record of him working there or anything."

"And the man responsible?" The She-Hulk asked as she stepped away from Alex's body and moved closer to Elliot.

"Died in transit," Elliot said calmly, his tone saying that he wouldn't waste a tear on what happened to the man. "Whatever went down in that warehouse, both he and Alex lost a lot of blood. French, that's the perp, suffered several broken bones and cuts, didn't go down without a fight though."

"So he saved the girls?" The She-Hulk asked, looking back towards the hospital bed.

"And others," Elliot nodded, feeling a bit calmer now as it was obvious the She-Hulk had a lot more control than her cousin. "French was a repeat offender; he'd got to three girls previously, who knows how many others would have been on his list if Alex hadn't stopped him."

"Do you know what you're asking here detective?" The She-Hulk asked with sad eyes as she looked at him. "The blood that you want to give him, my blood, is full of gamma radiation. It could affect him the same way it did me and Bruce."

"I'm willing to take that chance," Elliot said with a firm nod.

"Is he?" The She-Hulk asked quietly. "You're asking me to risk creating another Hulk detective, is that something you want on your conscience?"

"And you're asking me to let a hero die." Elliot shot back with a frown. "You're the only person we know for sure has the same blood as Alex, without it, he's as good as dead."

"I know," The She-Hulk said quietly as she looked back towards the body.

"You have to do this," Elliot said firmly. "It's the right thing to do." He said, finally noticing the crowd of doctors and nurses that were now hovering around outside the room and staring in. "Jennifer, he saved two young girls lives, I can't let him die because of that."

"But you'll risk condemning him to a worse fate," The She-Hulk said sadly. "There are three things that could happen if, and that's a big if, we go ahead with this. One, he stays as he is and the radiation does nothing to him." She paused, lifting up one finger that was as big as Elliot's head. "Two, the radiation mutates him like it did with Bruce, he becomes another mindless Hulk and is hunted by the army for the rest of his life." She held up another finger, watching Detective Stabler's eyes widen considerably. "Three, he turns out like me. Able to switch between the two when and if he wants."

"Is there any way to know how it will affect him?" Elliot asked as he stared at the three fingers the She-Hulk was holding up.

"Bruce didn't know how it would affect me," The She-Hulk said sadly as she moved to lean against the wall. "It could be a genetic trait, it could be triggered by his anger, there are a host of things that could affect the outcome. We have no way of knowing."

"But there's a thirty percent chance he'll be fine?" Elliot asked after a moment of thinking, actually wondering if he was doing the right thing here. It hadn't been far from his mind ever since they'd learned that a blood transfusion from either Hulk could save the young man, but being faced with being told it, from a seven foot female Hulk herself, that really put it into perspective.

"True but." The She-Hulk tried to continue but trailed off as she looked down at the young man laying on the bed.

"He's a hero," Elliot said calmly. "He doesn't deserve to die because of some creep who snatches young girls. Please, help him."

"If this goes wrong," The She-Hulk stated firmly as she moved over to stand directly in front of Elliot, so his face was practically touching her breasts as he looked up at her. "I'm holding you responsible."

"Understood." Elliot said after a moment, actually priding himself on his resolve not to look directly ahead at the cleavage that was being presented to him just above eye level.

"Get the doctors then," The She-Hulk said as she stepped away after holding eye contact with Elliot for a few seconds longer. "Let's do this before I change my mind."

Elliot nodded before moving away to the doorway to call for a doctor, the crowd quickly dispersing as he made his way to the door to the door. He paused there for a moment, turning back to look at the giant green amazon that was now looking down at the unconscious young man. "Thank you." He said quietly before he stepped out of the room.

The She-Hulk smiled softly at him as he moved away before she looked down at the young man again. "I hope this is what you'd want kid." She whispered softly before leaning down and planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "Pretty cute for a hero as well." She smiled before moving back to leaning against the wall and waiting for the doctors to make their appearance.

* * *

"How's he doing?" Olivia asked as she walked over with a paper mug of coffee from the machine for Elliot. He'd called the station to let everyone know the She-Hulk had come through for them, so she'd rushed over to help contain the inevitable media circus that would happen when the fact became public knowledge.

"Still in theatre," Elliot nodded in thanks as he took a sip from the coffee. "The doctors say the transfusion took, they're working on the rest now."

"Any word on... you know…" Olivia winced, dancing around the topic of if they'd just created a new Hulk menace.

"Nothing," Elliot said thankfully. "Though the She-Hulk said the change didn't happen for her until she was threatened. It could be the same for him."

"So we just have to make sure no one upsets him." Olivia nodded.

"For the rest of his life?" Elliot frowned. "I'm beginning to wonder, did we do the right thing here, saving the kids life."

"You know we did." Olivia nodded firmly. "He saved two little girls, he deserves a chance to live out his life fully."

"But what if he does change," Elliot stood up and gestured to the operating room doors. "You've seen the news reports of The Hulk, we don't have anywhere near the firepower here needed to stop him."

"We've got her," Olivia nodded over to where the She-Hulk was waiting down the corridor, staring back at them every so often with a sad smile. "She might be able to contain him if he does change."

"And the fight between the two?" Elliot asked with a raised eyebrow. "I tell you Liv, I've got half a mind to try and evacuate the hospital right now."

"I'm sure it won't come to that," Olivia said as Elliot sat back down next to her, his eyes nervously on the doorway to the operating room.

"I hope you're right," Elliot said softly, offering up a brief prayer to anyone that might be listening. "I really do."

* * *

Two hours later

"Detectives." A doctor said urgently as he came out of the operating room and pulled off his mask.

"Well, was it a success?" Elliot asked as he stood up quickly.

"You could say that." The doctor trailed off. "We managed to repair most of the damage to his spine, we were in the middle of stitching up his chest when."

"He changed." The She-Hulk frowned as she walked over, her head hung low.

"I've never seen anything like it," The doctor shook his head. "He's still unconscious, but I don't know how long for. The drugs we injected him with should keep him under for another hour or so, but with your metabolism and healing factor."

"We need to get him out of here." Elliot said firmly, a touch of panic creeping into his voice.

"I don't think that's going to be possible," The doctor said as he leaned backwards and pushed open the door. "Second room on the left, I wouldn't normally let anyone in here but..."

"Let me," The She-Hulk said quickly as she stepped forwards, ducking under the doorway to pass through ahead of the two detectives.

Elliot nodded slightly as he watched the green Amazon take the lead, he moved slowly after her, unclipping his gun subconsciously as he felt Olivia move behind him. His eyes widened as the She-Hulk pushed open the doorway to the operating room the doctor had directed them to, almost freezing mid step as his mind caught up with what he was seeing.

The form on the floor was barely recognisable as the young man that he'd seen in the hospital bed every day now for the better part of a week. The operating table had been flattened under his new form and the gown he was wearing was shredded beyond repair, barely covering his stomach and groin. Elliot tried to gauge his height but from the angle was unable to actually get a good measurement, somewhere between eight and nine feet was his best guess, but from the muscles on his arms and legs it was a good guess he may be taller when his muscles were in use.

"That's a bit bigger than when he came in," Elliot said softly.

"I'm only five ten normally," The She-Hulk informed him with a grimace. "He's almost as big as Bruce."

"Why'd he change though?" Elliot asked as he bent down to take a better look at the young man's face, it was still obviously Alex, but his skin and hair had taken on the same green hue as the She-Hulk. "I'm pretty sure the doctors weren't threatening him, or got him angry."

"I don't know." The She-Hulk shook her head as she lifted Alex's arm experimentally. "I'd say I could carry him out of here, but getting him through the doors or out past the media."

"Ugh."

Everyone in the room instinctively froze as a groan echoed throughout the operating theatre; both Elliot and Olivia had their guns in their hand in seconds while the She-Hulk moved in front of them. "Get out of here!" She whispered firmly. "Now!"

"What… what hit me?"

Everyone turned to look at Alex this time, who was slowly regaining consciousness on the floor.

"Alexander?" The She-Hulk asked gently as she knelt down beside him.

"Whaaa!" Xander shouted out, pushing his arms onto the floor and slamming himself backwards away from her, the impact of his hands actually shaking the entire hospital room and cracking the floor in several places.

"Calm down, you have to calm down Alexander." The She-Hulk said, holding up her hands in a peaceful gesture. "We're not going to hurt you, you're in St Francis memorial hospital, in New York, do you remember?"

"The girls!" Xander shouted out, standing upwards quickly and impacting his head on the ceiling. "Ow." He said calmly as he looked down at the She-Hulk and the two other occupants of the room that now had their guns trained on him. "I surrender!" He said quickly, standing up straight again and banging his head as he raised his hands.

"They're safe," Elliot said slowly as he looked at Alexander, he was easily ten feet tall now, maybe closer to eleven. The muscles on his arms were easily bigger than his own head, beyond that Elliot refused to look any further down that his chest.

"What... what happened to me?" Xander asked in panic as he finally caught sight of his arms and hands in their new giant form, the sheer size of them actually surprising him more than the green hue of his skin and nails now.

"Calm down," The She-Hulk said as she stepped closer. "You were injured; we had to give you a blood transfusion."

"But… but I have a condition, the doc's said I can't." Xander stammered out, staring in awe at his hands.

"You have a rare blood type," Elliot said calmly as he lowered his gun slowly, happy that Alexander hadn't turned into a mindless Hulk like the original but still more than cautious at the giant creature that was in front of him, aside from the fact that Alex had saved two young girls, they knew practically nothing about him or his personality. "We had to find someone with the same blood type as you."

"Me," The She-Hulk said with a smile. "They transfused you with three pints of my blood."

"And that. that." Xander's eyes widened as he slumped to the floor with a crash, shaking the room again. "I'm… I'm…"

"Like me," The She-Hulk said sadly. "It was the only way to save your life Alexander, I'm sorry that you've been cursed like this but…"

"Xander," Xander whispered out. "Call me Xander."

"Xander," The She-Hulk smiled. "I'm Jennifer, or Jen if you like."

"Jen," Xander smiled softly as he looked up at her. "You saved my life?"

"And you saved the lives of two little girls." Elliot said as he stepped forwards, a bit in shock that when Xander was sat down he was still taller than he was stood up. "Here," He smiled, pulling off his jacket and handing it to Xander to cover up with.

"Thanks," Xander grinned as he held the jacket and laid it carefully over his groin. "Sorry about that, bit of a shock."

"I can imagine," Elliot smiled. "Is your neck alright? The doctors were in the middle of operating when. you changed I guess is the word."

"Uh, yeah," Xander frowned, reaching up and rubbing his neck. "Bit sore but I feel fine, thanks."

"I'm not surprised," The She-Hulk smiled. "Your healing factor should have taken care of any injuries you sustained; you'll probably be feeling better than new in an hour or so."

"Uh, thanks?" Xander said in shock. "Is this, uh, permanent or anything?" He gestured down at his giant form.

"I have no idea," The She-Hulk said sadly. "We still have only a limited understanding of how the gamma radiation mutates living cells; the effect is drastically different between me and my cousin. I got the blood from him, and it transformed me, I was hoping the effect wouldn't be passed on to you."

"Looks like it was," Xander said with a small smile.

"You're taking this kind of well," Olivia said quietly as she stepped forwards. "Detective Benson, this is my partner Detective Stabler."

"Hi," Xander smiled offering his hand for them to shake, then lowering it slowly as he realised his hand dwarfed theirs to such a level that shaking hands would be silly. "Kinda used to the weirdness, this though." He stood up slowly, careful not to bang his head on the ceiling again or drop the jacket he was now using to protect his modesty. "This is new."

"It does take some getting used to." The She-Hulk smiled up at him. "Would you mind trying something?" She asked, reaching out to touch his chest and smiling at the hard muscle she felt underneath.

"Sure." Xander grinned down, an expression that looked completely out of place on his hulking form.

The She-Hulk couldn't help but return the grin back up at him, it was like his good natured smile was infectious or something. "Concentrate, calm yourself down and breath slowly."

"Ok." Xander nodded, closing his eyes as he did to concentrate on feeling calm.

"Now, picture yourself transforming back. breath slowly and focus on the transformation." The She-Hulk nodded as she closed her eyes as well, concentrating as well as breathing slowly.

"Wait… I…" Xander stammered out before he felt himself slowly shrinking down, his weight and mass reducing considerably until he was back in his old body. "Hey, hey! I'm me again!"

"It takes a bit of practice,"

Xander's eyes widened at the beautiful woman in front of him who was wearing an extremely baggy suit. "Uh, hey." He smiled as he grabbed the jacket Detective Stabler had given him and held it over himself as he blushed.

"I think you can call me Jen now," Jennifer laughed as Xander blushed some more.

"So he can do that, like you?" Elliot asked, looking over in awe at Xander, who now was only about five foot ten himself.

"In time," Jennifer nodded. "Anger is a trigger as well, for the first few times it was the only way I could transform. Now I can do it whenever I want."

"Good to hear," Olivia nodded as she held out her hand for Xander to shake. "Nice to finally meet you Alexander."

"Thanks," Xander nodded as he shook the hand offered. "Look, is there any way I could, you know, get some pants or something, the whole nudist look isn't really me ya know?"

"Don't know, I kind of like it," Jennifer smirked at him with a wink, causing Xander to full out blush again.

"Stop teasing the kid," Elliot smiled good naturedly at Jennifer. "You two, wait outside. I'll see what I can do to find him some clothes."

"I'll see you out there," Olivia nodded with a smile. "You did a brave thing Alexander, saving those two girls. They owe you their lives."

"I just did what anyone would have done," Xander waved off the complement as Olivia and Jennifer moved out of the operating theatre and closed the door behind them. "I'll... uh... get you your jacket back as soon as I've found some clothes."

"Keep it," Elliot smirked as he moved around and found a spare set of blue overalls by the nurses' station and threw them over to Xander. "You did a good thing kid, not many people would have stepped in like that."

"I... uh, I was just in the right place," Xander shrugged, not wanting to tell the detective that he'd actually been down there on a quick patrol before heading back to his motel for the night. His road trip had brought him all the way to New York now, but now more than ever he was looking forwards to getting back to Sunnydale.

"You say that," Elliot nodded. "But you saved their lives, remember that."

"I just did what anyone else would have done in the same situation," Xander explained as he pulled on the baggy blue synthetic clothes and threw Detective Stabler's jacket on over the top, it was a big baggy for him but better than nothing. "Are they both alright?"

"They're downstairs," Elliot smiled. "With their families waiting to thank you, you've become a sort of hero around here ever since the news broke your story."

"You're kidding," Xander said with wide eyes as he pushed open the door and walked through with Elliot following him closely behind. "Not kidding?"

"Nope," Elliot shook his head with a grin. "We had to get the story out there to see if there was anyone else with your blood type, when the news caught hold of what you'd done, they turned it into a campaign."

"Great," Xander sighed out as they walked out onto the main ward where detective Benson and Jennifer were waiting for them. "Is there any chance of me just, you know, slipping away quietly, you know, out the back or something?"

"Afraid not," Elliot smiled as he clasped his hand on Xander's shoulder. "We've got statements to take from you, and The Mayor wants to award you some sort of medal or something, it was all planned if you pulled through."

"Tell them I didn't make it?" Xander said half-heartedly as Jennifer sniggered at him.

"'Fraid not," Elliot laughed. "Come on, we'll get you to the station house, you can get a change of clothes there."

"Thanks," Xander nodded before turning to Jennifer. "So, uh, thanks for, you know, saving my life and all."

"I'm sorry it came as such a cost," Jennifer said with a sad smile as she looked into Xander's dark brown eyes. "Everything's changed for you now Xander, I'm just sorry it had to be like this for you."

"Hey, no big," Xander smiled. "It's not like I'm stuck like that right? And I'm not some brainless monster when I'm like that either, so it's not really a big deal."

"You… you don't hate me for turning you into a freak?" Jennifer asked, blinking a few times. Acceptance was one of the last things she'd expected from the young man, she'd put down his easy acceptance of his new form down to shock and trauma, after being in a coma and needing hospital treatment, but he seemed to actually have accepted it pretty easily now it had had time to sink in.

"You're kidding right?" Xander laughed. "You saved my life, I owe you big time, seriously. If you weren't so gorgeous, or could snap me like a twig, I'd kiss you."

"Don't let me stop you." Jennifer grinned and then laughed as Xander blushed again. "You're cute, you know that, and you're a hero. Don't sell yourself short kid."

"Yeah, big hero," Xander snorted.

"Yeah, BIG," Jennifer said. "Remember, you're a Hulk now, you were taller than I am like that, nearly as tall as Bruce I'd wager."

"Everything did seem a bit smaller," Xander commented. "I was really that big?"

"About ten foot," Elliot said off hand.

"Maybe eleven," Olivia chimed in. "Not to mention those muscles."

"Or other parts," Jennifer winked over to Olivia who blushed and turned away.

"I'm not even going there," Elliot held up his hands in surrender. "I couldn't take my eyes off the biceps, your arms were thicker than my head." He held up his hands to demonstrate the size. "If you're packing the sort of strength she is, then." Elliot trailed off with wide eyes and a whistle.

"Come on," Olivia laughed with a smile. "I think the Captain wants to organise some press conference for you."

"Wait, don't I have to hang around for tests or something?" Xander frowned at the way he was being led through the hospital again. "I can't just walk out of here right?"

"You're fine," Jennifer laughed. "Healing bonus, kinda comes with the Hulk territory."

"And this way we might be able to sneak you through the press before they figure out who you are," Elliot nodded. "They won't be expecting you to leave the hospital so soon, so we might be able to get you back to the stationhouse without it becoming a circus."

"Ok, I vote for that!" Xander grinned.

* * *

"Oh god!" Xander gasped out as he was finally allowed a seat inside the police station Benson and Stabler had taken him to. "That was crazy."

"Like I said, you're a hero." Elliot nodded as he leaned on the desk next to where Xander was sat. They'd been mobbed by the press as soon as they'd left the hospital, camera flashes and loud question had assaulted Xander's face as soon as he'd stepped out into the sunlight. It had taken them nearly half an hour to get through the media circus to the car Detective Stabler had waiting.

"Hey kid,"

Xander turned around to see two other detectives making their way over to him. "Uh, hey?"

"You did good," The older of the two nodded in appreciation. "Though, going in there with a stake, what were you, vampire hunting or something?"

"It was at the scene Munch," Elliot frowned. "I doubt Alex took it in with him."

"Uh, yeah," Xander nodded. "Not mine."

The detective that Elliot had called Munch looked at him closely for a bit before moving away slowly back to his desk and taking the younger man, who had just nodded in appreciation, with him.

"What was that about anyway," Xander asked, turning to Jennifer. "The crowd back there, they acted like they were afraid of you or something."

"I'm used to it," Jennifer shrugged as she looked away from his eyes. "Most people don't really like me, or anything like me. They think I'm just the same as the mutants they're all afraid of."

"Ah," Xander nodded. He'd heard of the 'mutant menace' from newspapers and in school last year, there'd never been an actual confirmed mutant in Sunnydale though, well not that he knew of anyway. The way he saw it, they were just people like he was, more like he was now than he used to be he mused.

"Ever since my identity got out, jobs are hard to come by, people don't want me living near them," Jennifer sighed as she leaned against the desk next to Xander.

"They're idiots," Xander commented with a smile as he looked up at her. "It's just stupid, I mean, who cares, it's a random genetic thing right, I'd hope some of these hatemongers have mutant children, maybe that'll teach them a bit of compassion."

"Calm down," Jennifer said, putting her hand gently on Xander's shoulder. "You don't want to... you know."

"Yeah," Elliot nodded as he looked around. "I can't talk for the rest of the precinct, but the big green guy scared me the first time I saw it. Changing into that in a room full of armed cops is not a good idea."

Xander nodded with a small smile, his eyes saying thank you to Jennifer as he leaned back in the chair. "Just makes me angry, that's all."

"You get used to it," Jennifer shrugged. "I guess it's just how they are. Sorry you've been lumped in with us now."

"Better than being dead," Xander smiled as he saw an older man coming over with Detective Benson.

"Alexander?" The man asked, holding out his hand. "Captain Cragan, nice to meet you son."

"Hey," Xander smiled as he stood up and shook the offered hand. "Can I just ask, when can I get out of here. I mean, I was on a road trip thing when I came here, New York was the last stop before I head back home."

"We'll have you out of here in no time," Captain Cragan smiled. "We've got a few people here who'd like to say a few words though." Cragan smiled and stepped aside to show Detective Benson walking over with two young girls, their parents alongside with big smiles on their faces.

"What…" Xander started to ask as he turned to Elliot.

"This is Elisabeth," Elliot smiled as the young blonde girl who was holding some papers in her hand nervously. "And this is Sarah." He pointed to the other which was a young redhead with freckles. "These are the girls you saved Xander."

"I... uh… you..." Xander stammered out as the fathers of the two girls stepped forward.

"We'd both like to thank you Mister Harris," The first man said with a large smile. "We owe you everything, if there's anything I can... We can do for you."

"Whoa whoa," Xander backed up with his hands held up. "Please, I'm not looking for thanks or anything. I just did what anyone else would have done."

"You deserve it," The first man said, clasping Xander's hand and shaking it firmly. "Thank you, really, thank you."

The man stepped back and allowed his daughter to move up to Xander, she smiled awkwardly before handing over a piece of paper.

"Is this for me?" Xander asked as he knelt down to take the paper from the girl, he looked at it for a second before smiling. "Thank you." He whispered as she girl lent in and hugged him. He was then bowled over as the other girl rushed in and hugged him as well, the three ending up on the floor in a pile.

"I don't think he was expecting that," Jennifer smirked as she watched Xander try and extract himself from the two girls who were still hugging him tightly.

"He more than earned it," One of the fathers said with a smile. "Is he doing alright, I mean the hospital said he discharged himself but…"

"He'll be fine," Elliot interrupted with a smile. "I think he just wants to go back home and get on with his life now."

"Weren't they going to give him an award or something? The papers said The Mayor wanted to honour him personally." The other father said as he came over to talk with Elliot as well.

"Whoa, no mayors," Xander interrupted as he extracted himself from the small girls and stood up. "I'm just looking to get out of here with as little fuss as possible."

"I don't think that's up to you," Captain Cragan sighed. "It's an election year, and the higher ups want to make a hero figure out of you to show everyone that people like you are really out there."

"Get someone else!" Xander protested. "I'm no hero, seriously guys, I'm just the zeppo here."

"Hardly a zeppo," Jennifer smirked.

"You know what I mean." Xander glared back with a small smile. "Really, not looking for any fuss or anything, I just want to get back to my motel, get my clothes then head on home."

"I'll talk to the Mayor about it," Captain Cragan nodded. "Can't guarantee he'll listen, but I'll tell him what you want. Either way, we still need to get a statement from you, so if you wouldn't mind accompanying detective Stabler here, we'll get this done for you a quick as we can."

"Thank you, again." One of the fathers said, clasping Xander's hand firmly. "I don't know what I would have done if…"

Elliot smiled as he saw Xander look to him for help, a silent plea was in his eyes making Elliot almost laugh at the young man's predicament. He was obviously not used to being thanked or being treated like a hero, and this sort of thing was obviously making him very uncomfortable. "This way," Elliot smiled as he nodded to Xander and motioned to the back of the office. "I'm sorry but we need to get his statement entered in, I'm sure you understand."

"Yes, yes of course, thank you, again." The father said gratefully as the other father joined in.

"There's coffee upstairs," Olivia said to Jennifer with a smile. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't... you know..."

"Yeah," Jennifer nodded as she moved to the stairs and started walking up them. "I figured as much." She said sadly as she moved upwards.

* * *

"That, was hell." Xander muttered as he moved into the waiting area where Jennifer was sat with a mug of coffee. "Hey, didn't expect you to still be around." He smiled as he moved across to sit at the table with her. "What ya still doing here?"

"I was waiting for you," Jennifer said with a smile as she put down the coffee. "I took some extra time off work, just in case. well, you know." She whispered before looking around to make sure no one had heard them.

"Oh, yeah, the green thing," Xander nodded. "It's kinda freaky I guess, do you, uh, do it a lot?"

"It comes in useful," Jennifer nodded. "As I'm guessing it will for you." She paused as Xander looked at her with wide eyes. "So Alexander, how long have you been hunting vampires?"

"I… uh, I don't know what…"

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?" Jennifer said with a small smile. "I saw your reaction when that detective asked you about the stake, I've seen my fair share of vampires and demons, so, how long?"

"About three years," Xander shrugged. "Kinda fell for a girl and…"

"How did I know there'd be a girl involved," Jennifer smirked. "So, you patrol alone now, in New York, at night?" She raised an eyebrow further at each point. "That was incredibly stupid, do you know the sorts of creatures that survive in New York, there are things here that make vampires look like cuddly bunnies."

"I... I uh…" Xander stammered out, unsure what to actually say or do to placate the woman who was now almost yelling at him, the last thing he wanted to do was to actually get her angry, knowing who she was he knew she could easily throw him half the way back to Sunnydale if he annoyed her enough. "I'm sorry?" He finally squeaked out, holding his hands up in surrender.

Jennifer looked at him for a moment, staring into his eyes before speaking. "No, you're not." She frowned. "You'd do it again, wouldn't you?"

"If I hadn't been there, what would have happened to those girls?" He asked in a low voice. "If someone doesn't fight them, who will?"

"There are people out there doing a much better job that you used to," Jennifer frowned. "I guess that's changed now though. Am I right in assuming you're not going to stop?"

"Couldn't, can't, won't." Xander said firmly. "Look, what's the issue here. It's my choice, no one else's. I'm not telling you what to do, so don't think you can."

"I'm not," Jennifer said calmly, holding her hand up to stop Xander's argument. "And calm down, you're going to need to work on that temper of yours."

"Wasn't an issue before," Xander muttered before sitting down and taking some deep breaths.

"Well it is now," Jennifer frowned. "For all we know, if you change because of your temper, you'll end up just like him. You can't afford that in the middle of a police station."

"That... that could happen?" Xander asked quietly after a moment of thinking about it. The last thing he wanted was to hurt anyone, the thought of actually turning into another Hulk-like monster was something that was now a very real fear for him.

"I don't know," Jennifer said quietly, sitting down next to him. "The gamma radiation that causes this, we still have no idea how it affects the body or how the mutation reacts. The fact that me and you can control when to change back, and retain our intelligence and personality as the Hulk, that makes me think your mutation will be similar to mine."

"And if it's not?" Xander asked with wide eyes. "If I turn into the Hulk like the other one?" He frowned as Jennifer turned away, unable to look him in the eyes at that question. "Right," Xander sighed as he slumped back against the chair. "That answers that then."

"I'm sorry Alexander, I really am." Jennifer said with sad eyes. "Believe me, if there had been another way I..."

"I know," Xander said, cutting her off. "I guess it's just sinking in, ya know? Guess this is what Angel feels like."

"What was that?" Jennifer raised an eyebrow at Xander's last comment, causing him to laugh.

"Nothing, just found myself comparing myself to someone I really hate," Xander shook his head in amusement. "Look, I'm finished around her now. And I plan on being gone before the Captain guy figures out I'm still around for this press conference thing."

"Not a fan of the media?" Jennifer asked with a smirk.

"I like the quiet," Xander shrugged. "I'm heading back west soon, if my car's still there of course," He frowned, thinking back to where he'd left his car in the motel parking lot.

"I'll be coming with you then," Jennifer smiled as she stood up. "Can't let you run around by yourself now can we, you'll be throwing vampires all over the place if that happened."

"What… huh?" Xander frowned as he looked up at her.

"Like I said, I booked some extra time off work, in case this happened," Jennifer shrugged. "You'll need to learn how to control the transformation, and how to control your strength when you're like that. Can you think of someone better to teach you?"

"Well, no but..." He trailed off, thinking of the carnage that would be caused in Sunnydale when Buffy figured out the She-Hulk was in town.

"Then I'll be coming back with you." Jennifer smiled. "I'll need to grab some stuff from my hotel room, but aside from that I'm good to go."

"Great," Xander smiled unenthusiastically as he now thought of both Buffy and Willow's reaction to what had happened to him, that round of 'show and tell' he was definitely not looking forward to.

* * *

Sneaking out of the police station had actually been relatively easy, they'd managed to do it without being questioned or anyone noticing who they were or what they were doing. Xander had had some strange looks due to his clothing, still being clad in the blue hospital nurses clothes and detective Stabler's jacket, but overall they'd made it out pretty easily.

A quick stop off at Jennifer's hotel room had picked up two holdalls of her things, and now they'd cleaned out Xander's motel room they were ready to leave at last. "This is yours?" Jennifer let out a small whistle at the car that was in front of them.

"Uh, yeah?" Xander shrugged. "Look, I'll pay you back for the cab money, you know, once I find out where all my stuff is and all that."

"Anytime," Jennifer nodded slowly. "Xander, this is a nineteen fifty seven Chevrolet convertible, a very nice car, especially for someone as young as you."

"My uncle gave it to me," Xander shrugged. "Sort of graduation present."

"Nice gift," She said appreciatively as Xander pulled open the trunk and fished around inside.

"Ah thank you God," Xander muttered as he pulled out a change of jeans and baggy Hawaiian shirt. "Clothes, how I've missed you."

"You're not wearing that," Jennifer snorted when she saw the shirt Xander had pulled out, it was a hideous mesh of colours that even a blind man would have been offended by. "Bin it, better yet burn it."

"Hey, I like this shirt," Xander defended himself as he pulled the jeans on over the paper thin blue uniform he had on.

"No one should like that shirt," Jennifer laughed as she pulled the monstrosity away from him. "God, I feel like I need sunglasses just to look at it."

"It's not that bad," Xander muttered as he pulled the blue top off and replaced it with a plain grey t-shirt.

"Better," Jennifer nodded to him. "But you're not having this back," She frowned as she tried to figure out exactly what to do with the shirt in her hands.

"You don't have to do this you know," Xander said as he sorted out the belongings they'd given him from the hospital in a see through plastic bag. "Come back to Sunnydale I mean, I'm sure you have more important things to do than worry about me."

"It's not you I'm worried about," Jennifer smiled as she watched him put on a watch and slide his wallet into his pocket. "More like everyone else around you if you lose that temper of yours."

"I won't," Xander said firmly. "All I'm saying is, Sunnydale isn't like other towns ya know? I mean, I know you can protect yourself and all, but…"

"Alex, you're my responsibility." Jennifer said just as firmly, cutting off Xander's protest. "Whatever happens to you, it's because of me. Bruce couldn't hang around for me because of the way he changes, but I can be there for you, help you through this."

"I'll be fine," Xander frowned as he pulled out his car keys. "It's a long drive back, you sure there's nothing I can do to persuade you not to come?"

"Unless you're going to drive off without me," Jennifer smirked as she got in the passenger side and shut the door after her. "Looks like you're stuck with me then."

"I can think of worse things," Xander smiled as he got in the car and started the engine.

"That's the spirit," Jennifer grinned causing Xander to turn to smile at her, when he did he automatically slammed on the breaks in shock.

"Jesus," He muttered as he looked at her, she was back in her She-Hulk form again, towering over him and filing out her now tight black suit with her jade amazon physique. "A little warning next time please." He said, shaking his head as he started driving again while she laughed.

"You'll have to get used to it Alex," Jennifer laughed, her voice deeper and more sultry in this form. "It's liberating, so much more freedom and so many more sensations."

"No, thank you," Xander frowned. "And call me Xander, please, the only people who call me Alexander are my parents, and that's only when I'm in trouble, which is like all of the time."

"You'll have to get used to it soon Xander," Jennifer frowned, emphasising his name. "It'll happen, sooner or later. The sooner you have control over it, the better for everyone around you."

"Well I'm certainly not going to test it in my car," Xander frowned, deep in thought. "And not in New York either." He sighed as he turned onto a main road leading out of the city and west towards home.

"Fine," Jennifer frowned at him. "But when we're out of the city, somewhere safe, promise me you'll try to change, so we know what happens."

"No promises," Xander shook his head. "I've seen the news reports of The Hulk; he destroys everything around him, cities, tanks, helicopters. What if I end up like that?" He asked, worry tinting his voice now.

"I can't answer that for you," Jennifer shook her head sadly. "I can only tell you that I'll do my best to stop you from hurting anyone, which is why I think we should try it out before we reach your home."

"Yeah," Xander nodded slowly, half of him agreeing with Jennifer and not wanting to see his friends get hurt, the other half of him actually thinking that throwing around vampires like javelins sounded like a good way to clean up Sunnydale. "But I was me right, in the hospital, I was me, not a savage Hulk thing right?"

"That's true," Jennifer mused as Xander turned the car onto a main highway, both of them ignoring the strange looks they were getting from other drivers on the road. "It could mean that you'll be able to keep yourself from losing control like Bruce does."

"I hope so," Xander nodded, turning into another savage Hulk was definitely not something he ever wanted to experience. "So, uh, what happened to you then, I mean, to turn you into the She-Hulk I mean."

"Oh that's a long story," Jennifer laughed as she leaned back in the chair and pushed it back slightly so it would be more comfortable for her.

"It's a long way to Sunnydale," Xander countered. "And the radio doesn't work, so."

"Yeesh," Jennifer shook her head in amusement, glaring at the broken radio for a second. "Guess we've got to find a way to kill the time then." She winked over, causing Xander to blush again. "OK ok, I was a lawyer back then."

* * *

"Xander," Jennifer said quietly as she shook Xander's sleeping form. "Xander, wake up."

They'd swapped after a few hours of driving to let Xander get some rest, after his ordeal with the hospital and then the media before the police station, he was falling asleep at the wheel not long after they'd crossed the state line out of New York. Jennifer had taken over from there and driven through the night, letting him sleep as much as he needed while she continued on in quiet.

It was actually kind of relaxing, driving through the night with the top down on Xander's convertible, the wind in her hair and barely any traffic on the roads, just let her be herself and enjoy the quiet. Every so often she'd glance over at Xander to see how he was doing, smiling whenever he'd mutter something in his sleep or make some strange noise.

"Just ten more minutes mom," Xander muttered in his half asleep voice as he tried to roll over in the passenger seat and ended up with his face pressed against her arm.

"I'm not your 'mom' Xander," Jennifer mock scolded him as she poked him in the ribs. "Now wake up."

"Nhh?" Xander groaned as he forcefully opened his eyes and was rewarded by the sight of the She-Hulk's chest, close up and clothed in a skin tight purple and while leather leotard of sorts. "Ayy.." He muttered as he slowly lifted his head up after realising he was leaning on her shoulder. "Uh, sorry about that... did I drool, I drooled on you didn't I?"

"No drool," Jennifer laughed as she watched him blush a fierce shade of red and sit upright in the car.

"Where are we?" He asked, looking around and wiping his eyes to clear the sleep from them. "Wait, it's dawn already?" Xander looked out at the sky above and sure enough it was growing lighter. It had been heading into dusk when they'd swapped driving, he remembered that much.

"St Louis," Jennifer nodded as she opened the door and stepped out to stretch. "You've been asleep nearly thirteen hours, looked like you could do with the rest."

"You should have woke me," Xander yawned as he got out of the car and stretched. "You drove all the way here overnight?"

"It was nice and quiet," Jennifer nodded. "I did almost wake you up a few times though, sounded like you were having a nightmare or something."

"Hnh?" Xander asked mid yawn as she came around to stand next to him. "Sorry," He shook it off before turning to her. "Nightmare?"

"Something about a girl called Buffy?" Jennifer asked with a cocked eyebrow. "You were mumbling something about not hurting her or her hurting you, I couldn't make most of it out."

"It's nothing," Xander waved it away, vaguely remembering the dream now, more of a nightmare about him turning into a savage Hulk in Sunnydale and Buffy hunting him down. "Breakfast then?" He asked, nodding to the truck stop at the other side of the layby where they'd parked.

"Hmm," Jennifer nodded with a smile, though her eyes said she wasn't going to let the talk of this nightmare go that easily. "Your treat this time."

"Sure," Xander laughed as he pulled out his wallet, thanking whoever was listening that he still had a bit of cash left in it. "Made good time I think," He smiled, checking his watch. "Not bad, nearly a third of the way there in one night, at this rate we'll be back in a few days."

"A few days?" Jennifer asked as they crossed the parking lot to the truck stop café. "If we do another overnight trip, we should make it by this time tomorrow."

"Don't you want to rest or anything?" Xander asked as he held open the door for her to enter the café before him. "I was planning on getting a motel or something in Indiana, maybe one in Kansas city, you know, break up the trip."

"Why bother?" Jennifer shrugged as they walked in and found a booth; she immediately noticed all eyes on her and moved to ignore them immediately. "We can do it quicker if we take turns driving, get there tomorrow mid-day sometime."

"You got a problem?" Xander asked loudly when he noticed everyone staring at her with wide eyes.

"Xander, just leave it," Jennifer said quietly, motioning for him to stop shouting as everyone looked away from him, refusing to meet his eyes. "You'll get used to it, I just ignore them now. I should have thought, changed back before."

"Why should you?" Xander frowned as he looked around the room once more before turning back to her. "If they have a problem with you, it's not your fault."

"Just leave it," Jennifer sighed as she picked up the menu. "I'll just have some pancakes and a coffee."

"Sure," Xander nodded, glancing at the menu quickly before deciding on the same. "Be right back alright?" He smiled at her before standing up and making his way over to the counter, following Jennifer's advice and ignoring the glares that were sent his way as he moved. "Hey," He nodded at the service woman behind the desk, pointedly refusing to smile at her. "Two sets of pancakes please, actually, make that three. And two coffees."

The woman just stood there for a minute before ignoring Xander and moving down the counter to talk to a trucker that was sat there with a newspaper ignoring him as well.

"Excuse me!" Xander said loudly as the woman leaned on the bar and started talking to the trucker in a hushed whisper.

"We don't serve her kind in here," The woman said with a glare before turning back to the trucker who smirked at Xander before blowing a cloud of cigar smoke over at him.

"Look, we're just here for breakfast like anyone else." Xander started but then stopped as the trucker stood up and glared at him.

"She said we don't serve freaks in here boy," The trucker snarled at him as he moved over to invade Xander's personal space. "Now take your mutie freak out of here, before we decide to run you out."

"Come on Xander," Jennifer sighed as she moved over, not wanting any trouble here for either of them.

"No," Xander said firmly, staring back at the trucker who blew another cloud of smoke into his face. "I just want a coffee and some pancakes, no trouble."

Whatever else Xander was going to say was cut off when the trucker violently pushed him back. "I said we don't want freaks in here, so take your mutant girl and fuck off pal!" He snarled as he pushed Xander again.

"I wouldn't." Jennifer started to say as she moved to intervene, seeing the anger building in Xander's eyes already.

"Shut up bitch," The trucker snarled, spinning quickly around in a backhand that caught Jennifer unawares, impacting her in the face sharply. "I said we don't…" He trailed off as Jennifer pulled herself up to her full height; glaring down at the trucker as she reached up to touch her face where he'd caught her.

She was about to grab the trucker herself when a growl caught her attention, her eyes slowly turned away from the trucker, noticing that he did the same as they both looked down to where Xander had fallen from being pushed.

He was now crouching on the ground, his fists clenched and shaking slightly as he knelt there.

"Xander…" Jennifer said quietly. "Xander, calm down… he didn't." She trailed off as Xander started moving; slowly he moved to stand up. The sound of tearing fabric echoing through the now silent room as he grew larger and larger, his skin slowly turning an unearthly green hue as his muscles tore through his t-shirt with ease. His jeans were stretched to the maximum soon enough as they tore around the waist and thighs as he stood up, towering over the trucker now and having to stoop down in the café as he glared.

"Wha..." The trucker barely managed to speak as his eyes widened at the sight of Xander's new muscles, his chest was about three times as wide as his own and the powerful muscles there were obviously not even flexed yet.

"Apologise, now!" Xander growled out, reaching down and grabbing the trucker easily around the waist and squeezing.

The café now erupted into panic, the patrons leaving whatever they had been doing and diving for the exit and running out of the fire exits in a blind panic.

"Xander, don't." Jennifer started, reaching out to touch Xander's hand and quietly marvelling at how his hand and arm dwarfed her own.

"Apologise!" Xander snarled out again, glaring down at the now tiny trucker that was trembling in fear beneath him.

"Xander!" Jennifer shouted, calling his attention back to her. "Calm down, you don't want to do this... come on, come back to me." She nodded as Xander turned to face her properly, his eyes narrow and pointed.

"He hurt you." Xander snarled out, squeezing the man a little tighter.

"I'm fine," Jennifer smiled, actually happy that Xander was this protective over her, it seemed chivalry wasn't dead after all. "Put him down, you don't want to hurt him."

"Stupid man hurt Jennifer," Xander snarled out, glaring back at the trucker.

"Come on, calm down." Jennifer said, stroking Xander's arm gently now. "You don't want to do this, just let him go and we'll go somewhere else for breakfast."

"Stupid." Xander muttered with a glare, finally letting go of the man who fell to the floor silently whimpering, Xander closed his eyes for a few seconds before turning back to Jennifer. "Jennifer?" He asked, blinking a few times. "Oh man," He sighed, looking down at the man who was staring up at him with terrified eyes. "I hulked out right?"

"Yeah," Jennifer nodded. "Come on, let's get out of here before the cops show up."

Xander nodded silently at her as he moved to walk away, bashing his head on the ceiling as he moved. "Ugh, stupid ceilings, they should make these places taller."

"It's not the building's fault," Jennifer said softly, glaring back at where the counter woman was helping the trucker up as Xander slammed the doors open before ducking under them. "You need to calm down, breathe remember."

"I can't." Xander said firmly as he stood up to his full height outside the building and looked down at her. "That guy, I mean, they were turning us away just because you looked different to them, it's just… ugh..." Xander frowned, looking down at his clenched fist that was bigger than Jennifer's head.

"It's just the way they are," Jennifer said sadly, placing her hand on Xander's arm in an effort to calm him down. "With all this stuff about mutants and the terrorists, it's just not a good time right now."

"Idiots," Xander snarled, glaring back inside where the remainder of the customers were looking through the windows at them with mixed looks of horror and disgust on their faces. "I should just." He moved to step back inside the café but was stopped when Jennifer stood in front of him.

"That's not the answer Xander," Jennifer said calmly. "Come on, we'll just drive on, wait for you to calm down, then we can try somewhere else."

"Great," Xander sighed as he looked down at himself, the t-shirt he had been wearing was still in rags inside the café, while the jeans, which were previously baggy and well worn, were now torn and shredded in various places, now stretched across his thighs nearly to breaking point, the bottom of the jeans torn and shredded beyond repair. "This is going to be hell on my clothing bill isn't it?" He asked good naturedly as they both started walking back towards his car.

"Buy baggy," Jennifer said with a smirk. "Or stretchy, you could always go for spandex?" She grinned as Xander glared at her lightly and sort of blushed; she wasn't sure as the skin of his face just changed to a darker shade of green as he walked.

"Baggy, baggy is definitely the way to go." He muttered to himself as they reached the car.

* * *

"It's not funny," Xander complained as he slumped into the driver's seat and threw the bags onto the back seat.

"I think it suits you," Jennifer laughed good naturedly, it had taken a few hours for Xander to manage to get his temper under control and concentrate enough to turn back into his normal form, fortunately the truckstop patrons weren't stupid enough to come outside and try anything while they were waiting.

So they'd driven on, passing St Louis and Missouri and down into Oklahoma, while Xander did most of the driving in his torn clothes, Jennifer had lightened the mood by talking about some of her costume mishaps when she'd first started changing into the She-Hulk. She'd almost threatened to throw him out of the car as they passed Springfield though as Xander spent a good hour or so talking in only Simpson's quotes.

They'd managed to get into Tulsa with relative ease, stopping off here and there to pick up snack food from gas stations along the way to keep them going. Now both her and Xander were back in normal human form no one seemed to bat an eyelid at either of them while he drove along. Unfortunately, the t-shirt and jeans he had been wearing were beyond hope, so he'd had to wait in the car while Jennifer went into the city to get clothing for him so they could actually find somewhere to eat instead of surviving on snack food from gas stations.

"You got me a Stetson," Xander grumbled as he tossed the hat into the back of the car. The jeans weren't too bad actually, they were baggy enough to stretch over him if he changed into his Hulk form, but comfy enough to pass as normal clothing. She'd also picked out a few plain black t-shirts, though these were tight and stretchy, a cotton / lycra blend according to the label. To top it all off she'd got him a plain white western style shirt to wear loosely over the rest.

"It looks good on you," Jennifer grinned as she fetched the hat from the back of the car and placed it neatly on his head, adjusting it slightly so it was set at an angle.

"Country I can deal with," Xander frowned as he looked in the wing mirror at himself. "The hat, not so much."

"For me?" Jennifer asked, smiling sweetly at him.

"You're evil, you know that right?" Xander commented as they got out of the car and he pocketed the keys. "Come on, we've driven all day, I think a meal is called for, then we can check into a motel or something for the night."

"Don't you want to just drive through?" Jennifer asked, walking up beside him as they moved along the sidewalk, slowly walking into the main town. "You can sleep again if you want, I don't mind, really."

"No, it's not fair," Xander shook his head slowly, cautious not to tip the hat off his head. "We'll get a place for the night, you can take the bed, I'll crash on the floor or something. Can't really afford two rooms and still have money for food and everything."

"What? Xander that's..." Jennifer started to argue but Xander held his hand up, surprising her that even when they were both in human form he was still a good few inches taller than her and much better built than she'd originally thought.

"You've done enough for me alright," Xander said firmly. "Saved my life remember, the least I can do is offer you the bed, we'll have to sort out something for when we get back to Sunnydale though, can't see my parents letting you stay there or anything."

"Xander, I can."

"Bah!" Xander interrupted again, holding his finger to her lips. "No arguments ok?"

Jennifer smirked slyly before licking his finger, causing him to pull it away quickly. "Fine, but the food tonight is on me, to say thank you for standing up for me back there."

"You could have probably handled that better than I did," Xander said, shaking his head at what had happened back in St Louis. In the back of his mind he knew that Jennifer was the She-Hulk and could have probably thrown that trucker across state lines with ease, but most of his brain just saw a man hitting a woman, even if she was green and bigger than he was.

"Well at least we know now that anger causes you to change, just like Bruce," Jennifer said with a nod. "You're just not quite as brainless as he is when he's like that."

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "It was strange, like all I could think about was the anger, when I started to calm down I could think more clearly, like a fog in my head or something."

"Bruce described it as pure anger," Jennifer nodded. "Like nothing else mattered when he 'hulked out' as you put it."

"I could have killed him, I mean, I wanted to kill him." Xander trailed off with his head hung low. "I... I didn't think I'd…"

"It wasn't you," Jennifer said, stopping mid step and standing in front of Xander. "Listen to me, your Hulk seems to be somewhere between mind and Bruce's, I think you'll be able to change back and forth with practice, but any intense emotion will trigger it as well." She reached over, cupping Xander's face with her hand. "The Hulk doesn't care about right or wrong, it's just anger, I'm just glad you managed to keep a leash on it and stopped yourself in time."

Xander had nothing to say to this really, settling for just nodding and looking into her eyes.

"The Hulk is part of you now Xander," Jennifer said, looking up into his eyes. "For better or worse, Bruce could never accept that, it drove him away from people."

"But... isn't there a way to stop it, get the Hulk out of me?" Xander asked carefully. "I didn't ask for this, I don't want to end up hurting anyone because I lost control again."

"Sadly no," Jennifer shook her head slowly. "Bruce worked on the problem for years, trying to diffuse the radiation or change the mutated cells. He worked with the best minds around, trying to fix it. It almost drove him crazy trying to stop the change."

"So, what then?" Xander frowned with sad eyes. "I could end up hurting people, my friends. I couldn't live with myself if I did something and they..."

"Which is why I came along," Jennifer said with a smile. "We've already shown you can control it, you just have to focus, don't let yourself lose control like that."

"You'll teach me?" Xander asked hopefully. "How to keep in it check I mean."

"Of course," Jennifer smiled at him. "The Hulk doesn't have to be just a tool for destruction Xander, if you're serious about hunting vampires still, it could be a great help to you."

"Yeah," Xander nodded with a small smile, thinking how far he could actually throw vampires like Angel now in his Hulk form.

"Come on," Jennifer smiled, stepping out of his way and moving to link her arm inside his. "I'm starving, I don't know how you survive on just Twinkies this entire time."

"It's my weakness," Xander laughed it off as they began walking down onto the main high street. "Didn't you hear, yellow is my only weakness." He grinned as he puffed out his chest in a hero pose.

"Wrong green guy," Jennifer laughed as she punched him gently in the arm and laughed.

* * *

"You take the bed," Xander argued as they got into the room of the motel they'd taken for the night, the meal had gone pretty well all in all, She'd chosen a cheap Mexican restaurant in the end after Xander vetoed any of the other restaurants she'd chosen, telling her that they were all way too expensive for him, and even though she was paying, he wasn't going to let her blow a huge amount of money on one meal.

She'd laughed at this and tried to tell him that money wasn't really a problem for her, with the wage coming in from Wolfram and Heart, and previous investments she'd made over the years, she was more than well off for money, enough to own her own condo in Los Angeles where she worked and be able to drop everything to fly to New York the next day.

He'd just ignored this though, so they'd finally settled on a Mexican restaurant that was a bit out of the way in a nice quiet area of town. One meal, dessert and several bottles of wine later, they were now at the motel Xander had got for the night. It wasn't anything fancy, but as they were only here for one night it would suffice.

"Nuhuh," Jennifer laughed as she walked through into the room, shaking her head and making her brunette hair fly around wildly. "You're not sleeping on the floor, nuhuh, no way." She giggled as she held onto Xander for stability. "Whoo,I swear the wine didn't do this much until we got outside."

"It's the cold air," Xander nodded with a grin as he dropped his keys and wallet onto the table by the door and closed it, while Jessica had her arm wrapped around him. "Always makes it worse. Or it could be the three bottles of red wine you had to yourself." He smiled as he dropped one of her holdalls by the door before turning back to her.

"I should… hmm..." Jessica smiled as she ran her hand down Xander's chest. "I should change."

"Yeah, sure," Xander nodded, feeling a bit drunk and light headed himself as he pointed to the hold all. "That's the one you said right, with bed stuff in?" He smiled, turning to the hold all before turning back to Jessica as he felt her grip on his arm tighten. "You… ok?" He asked as he turned around to be faced with Jennifer in her She-Hulk form. "Ah, change, right."

"Much better," Jennifer smiled as she arched back and undid the jacket that was now stretched across her chest to reveal the tight black t-shirt underneath.

"Buh." Xander managed to get out as Jennifer put her hand back on his chest after throwing her jacket to the floor.

"Hmm," Jessica smirked as she wrapped her hand in his shirt and pulled him forwards while walking backwards herself towards the bed. "I said you weren't sleeping on the floor."

"Ok," Xander gulped, looking up at the green amazon that was looking down at him like he was food. "I guess we could share the bed to sleep?"

"Who said anything about sleep?" Jennifer grinned as she span around and threw him onto the bed before climbing up and straddling his stomach, her powerful green thighs now being exposed as her skirt rode dangerously high up her legs.

"Wait… but…" Xander tried to stammer out as he leaned up and found that he was effectively pinned down by her weight on his torso.

"Don't worry," Jessica smirked as she reached down and started unbuttoning his shirt. "I'll steer you around the curves." She laughed as she pulled his shirt off of him before pulling her own t-shirt over her head and throwing it to the floor as well.

"Guh." Xander managed to get out as he was faced with a topless She-Hulk straddling his stomach, staring up at her he had to believe that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life.

"Oh I'll make you go more than 'guh'," Jessica laughed as she leaned down and captured his lips in a passionate kiss, her hands reaching down to grab his wrists and hold them in place. "I'm sure you'll be making sounds you've never made before." She laughed again as she kissed him softly, gently biting his lip before she reached around and literally tore her skirt away from her body.

"Yes ma'am," Xander said in a soft voice as he nodded.

"Good, now let's see if you can follow orders," She smirked down at him, pointing to a spot on her inner leg. "Here." She said, smiling when he leaned up and kissed the spot. "Here," She said again, pointing a bit further up her inner thigh and then smiling as he leaned up a bit further to kiss it. "Here?" She smirked, pointing further up again and then smiling when he leaned up but couldn't quite reach to kiss it.

"I… I uh." Xander managed to get out, looking up at the green goddess on top of him. "Can't reach with you sat there."

"Oh, sorry," Jennifer smirked down unrepentantly. "I guess we can fix that." She laughed before shuffling forwards on his body a bit more so she was basically sat on his chest, her legs taking most of the weight as they pinned him under her body by the sides. "Now, where were we?" She smiled down at him, a glint in her eyes as she continued by pointing a bit further up her inner thigh again. "Here?"

* * *

"Hmmm," Xander shook his head as the sunlight streamed in through the window of the motel room, rudely waking him from his slumber. Shaking his head slightly to clear the cobwebs he looked down to see the sleeping form of the She-Hulk stretched across him, her arm over his chest and her thigh covering most of his stomach and legs.

As it was he was pushed down the bed with his feet dangling off the bottom, a pillow under his head for comfort. He arced his neck back to he could look above him on the bed and saw Jennifer's face still sleeping further up the bed towards the head, her breasts were pushed into his chest and shoulder as she breathed, effectively pinning him in place.

"Wow," He breathed out, looking at the green amazon physique, it was quite obvious that she was naked, as was he. As vague memories from last night started flooding back he couldn't help the smile that graced his lips. "Wow." He whispered again as he tried to pull himself free.

"You can say that again."

Xander's inner musings were broken by the voice that came from the other side of the room; he tried to push himself up to get a better look but was pinned down by Jennifer's arm and thigh.

"Look, uh, I don't know who you are but..." Xander started to blurt out, wondering if it was actually wise to wake up Jennifer when she was in this state. For all he knew she could wake up in a bad mood and he was in no shape to argue with the She-Hulk when she was annoyed first thing in the morning.

"I'm not here to hurt you Alexander," The man stated calmly as he blew out a cloud of smoke into the room before walking over to where Xander could see him properly.

The man was about six feet, coloured and bald, wearing a plain black polo neck jumper underneath a black leather trench coat. A black eye patch finished off the look and Xander's eyes were drawn to a glint of a silver pistol shining in the light as he moved.

"I tried to get to New York before you left; you were supposed to stay there to meet the mayor." The man said calmly as he walked forwards, showing no fear of Xander or the sleeping She-Hulk on the bed.

"Who are you?" Xander asked loudly, hoping that his voice would wake Jennifer up so he would be able to either move or have some backup here.

"Nick Fury," The man said by way of introduction. "I'd shake your hand but…" He trailed off, waving his hand over the naked green form that was pinning Xander down.

"Funny," Xander frowned. "You know, this is kind of a private moment here, being naked and all." He said firmly. "Do you mind?" He nodded to the door as best he could.

"Not at all," Fury smiled at him and sat down in the chair by the wall opposite the bed so Xander could see him better. "Like I said, we were supposed to meet in New York."

"Sorry I missed you," Xander muttered, rolling his eyes.

"We like to know when some kid winds up being the next Hulk," Fury said calmly, pulling out a manila folder and flicking it open. "Alexander Lavelle Harris, from Sunnydale California."

"So you know who I am," Xander said with a slight bit of panic edging into his voice. "And you know who she is, so I'm guessing you know she'll be a bit angry if she wakes up and you're here to see her like this."

"I know Jennifer," Fury said calmly as he took another breath on the cigar. "She used to work for me."

"Great," Xander sagged back in the bed. "So I'm guessing this isn't just a quick chat then?"

"Hardly," Fury snorted as he blew out the smoke from the cigar. "You were involved in the scene last night in St Louis; the reports say two Hulks held up a truck stop just outside of town."

"Hey, we didn't rob the place," Xander defended himself firmly. "We were just in there for breakfast, then that creep started talking crap about mutants and freaks."

"And you broke his arm and nearly killed him." Fury said, closing the folder with a slap.

"No," Xander shook his head. "I didn't hurt the guy, he hit Jennifer, I just grabbed him."

"While in your Hulk form." Fury commented idly. "We have the security footage; we know the report is a crock."

"So why are you here then?" Xander asked, calming down now that he knew the man obviously didn't mean them any harm.

"We need to talk," Fury said calmly.

"What, a phone call was too much for you?" Xander quipped as Jennifer began to stir, her arm flopping down across Xander's groin and causing him to flinch slightly.

"Cute," Fury smirked with a roll of his eyes as he flicked open the folder again. "Buffy Anne Summers, Rupert Giles, Willow Rosenberg and Daniel Osborne." Fury read of the report in his hand. "Eclectic group of friends you've got there. Summers has a colourful history, assault, kicked out of school, suspected murder."

"She was cleared of that," Xander shouted, remembering back to what had happened last year with Buffy being expelled from school during the Acathla incident.

"Indeed," Fury nodded. "Colourful, as I said. Eclipsed only by Rupert 'Ripper' Giles, whose history I can only glimpse at because of some deal made with the British royal family."

"Ask him then," Xander shrugged with wide eyes as Jennifer's hand started moving in quite an inopportune place. "Would you… ahh…"

"Jennifer!" Fury shouted loudly, causing the grip around Xander's groin to tighten somewhat.

"Ahh!" Xander almost screamed but stopped when the grip lessened.

"Nick," Jennifer's groggy voice came through as the bed shook slightly as she pulled herself up. "What do we owe the pleasure?" She said sarcastically as she pulled the bed sheet up to cover herself and Xander.

"Oh don't stop on my account, really." Fury smirked over. "Cut the act, you knew I'd be coming as soon as we heard."

"Still intercepting my mail?" Jennifer glared over as her hand started idly playing with Xander's chest under the bed sheet.

"You owe two hundred and thirteen for a parking ticket last month," Fury said idly. "Oh, and you created another Hulk."

"It couldn't be helped." Jennifer said with a glare. "I know you've got the report there, you wouldn't be here unless you knew absolutely everything about Xander."

"True," Fury nodded calmly. "I know of his reputation as the 'White Knight', or is that green knight now? I know of his affiliation with the Slayer and the Watchers Council, I know his SAT results and I know who his best friends grandfather was." He slammed the file down after saying that. "I know he's in control when he turns into The Hulk, just as you are."

"Hardly," Xander snorted as he sat up this time, ignoring Jennifer's hand in a supreme act of will as it drifted lower under the sheet.

"He's rough, but he's no savage like Bruce," Jennifer frowned.

"As we thought, the transfusion was weaker due to the diminished radiation in your cells; the guys at HQ think the Hulk's anger is controlled by the medulla oblongata part of the brain, which is why his anger controls him more while your mutation is under control." Fury explained off hand.

"Thanks for the science lesson," Jennifer said as she stood up, the bed sheet falling away from her naked body as she did. "Now, you can leave."

"I came to talk to Alexander," Fury said, not batting an eyelid at her naked body or the way she posed angrily at him. "We know you're both heading back to Sunnydale, where Alexander will no doubt use his new power to help battle the vampires there."

"And, so what?" Xander said angrily as he sat up in the bed. "They need to be stopped, if I can help Buffy then."

"I have no intention of stopping you," Fury said calmly, pulling a smaller grey folder out of the manila one. "In fact, I'm endorsing you."

"What?" Xander asked as Fury threw the grey folder onto the bed next to him.

"I want you to work for me," Fury said by way of explanation when he saw Xander reach for the folder. "We know something is going south in Sunnydale, misplaced military equipment, hidden government funding. Something is happening down there, I want to know what."

"You're offering me a job?" Xander asked in shock as he read the first page of the folder Fury had given him.

"Both of you," Fury said with a nod towards Jennifer. "Wolfram and Hart is no place for you, trust me on that. I'm setting up a law firm on the outskirts of Sunnydale to act as your cover, you will work there as the manager, feel free to hire whoever you want to keep the business running."

"And me?" Xander asked with raised eyebrows. "I'm no lawyer, I barely graduated."

"You're going to college," Fury said simply, nodding to the folder. "Term starts on Monday, you're on the computer systems as a sponsorship from SHIELD. I'd recommend Psychology and Sociology."

"Wait. I can't just." Xander frowned as he flicked through the rest of the paperwork, noting they already had his bank details and social security number cleanly printed out on the forms.

"I'll be watching you Alexander," Fury said as he stood up and moved to the door. "Number seventeen Roxbury Avenue," He said idly as he fished out a set of keys and threw them on the bed. "House is now owned by Alexander Harris and Jessica Walters, I'll be in touch."

With that said he swept out of the door, his coat billowing behind him as he shut the door firmly behind him, leaving Xander and Jessica alone in the room again.

"You know him?" Xander asked as he turned to look at Jennifer, who was still stood in the middle of the room completely naked with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Sadly," Jennifer frowned as she looked down at him.

"He always like that?" Xander asked, forcing himself to keep eye contact with Jennifer and not let his eyes wander over her magnificent body.

"Ever since I've known him." Jennifer smiled as she rolled her eyes. "We should get going, if you've got to register for college on Monday."

"College," Xander sighed as he threw the bed sheet off of him and swung him legs around to sit on the side of the bed. "Why didn't you let me die." He muttered as Jennifer came over and straddled his lap, forcing him to look up as his head was directly in line with her breasts.

"I'm sure I can think up a few incentives," Jessica smirked as she wriggled in his lap, causing Xander to moan slightly.

"You're not mad; he just arranged things like that for you?" Xander gasped out as Jessica continued to writhe in his lap with a knowing smile on her face.

"He bought you a house," Jessica grinned. "Got me out of Wolfram and Hart, bought me a law firm of my own. I'm not complaining," She grinned as she ground down into his lap. "Are you?" She laughed as she reached around him and pulled his body flush with hers so his face was nestled in her cleavage. "Besides, there's no point arguing with Nick, trust me, he's one of the good guys, he's just more of a realist about the world."

"Nope, not complaining, no sirree." Xander stammered out as Jessica laughed down at him.

"Good," She laughed, grinding down one last time. "Come on, let's get back on the road," Jessica laughed as she stood up, a smirk on her face at seeing the reaction she had caused in him.

"Aww man," Xander sighed as he watched Jessica bend over to grab her underwear from the floor where she'd discarded it last night. "Then again." He smiled, enjoying the display.

"Later," Jessica laughed back, throwing his underwear at him. "If you're good." She smiled to herself as she started getting dressed, oh he was good alright, now she'd have to see how good he was in his Hulk form, as it was he managed to keep up with her last night. The grin spread further across her face as she imagined how good it would be with him in his Hulk form. "Maybe if you're not good we'll do something better." She laughed at him as he stood up and pulled his pants on, she swung around gently and smacked his ass before continuing to find her clothes. The kid was definitely good, certainly no Casanova but a lot of raw talent, she'd put good money on his first was a very experienced woman who had taught him a few things on his first time.

"Yes ma'am," Xander laughed as he got dressed, a lingering grin on his face as the memories from last night continued to come back.


	2. Chapter 2

"Fury?" Xander asked as he approached the car, almost ready to throw Jennifer's holdall in the back when he noticed the two plain brown boxes that were already there.

"My guess," Jennifer nodded as she reached over and plucked the card off the top of the closest box. "Alexander and Jennifer, some clothes you might find useful and other bits to help. Col Nick Fury." She rolled her eyes before handing the card over to Xander. "PS, we fixed the radio and tuned up the engine. Nice car."

"Does he have any personal boundaries?" Xander asked as he placed the holdall in the back seat next to the boxes.

"Didn't when I knew him," Jennifer shrugged. "It's probably good stuff as well; he always did get the best toys somehow."

"Later," Xander said simply as he slipped into the driver's seat and closed the door behind him. "Damnit, they played with the seat as well." He muttered to himself as he readjusted it for himself.

"Same old Nick," Jennifer shrugged as she got in the car and shut the door afterwards. "So, you know the Slayer then?" She asked as she flicked the radio on.

"Ah," Xander fumbled with the keys at her question. "Was kinda hoping you missed that."

"I knew a slayer once," Jennifer nodded. "Met her down in Brazil I think, must have been the mid-nineties when I was trying to find Bruce after the transfusion. Strange name, India or Indiana or something."

"The one before Buffy," Xander nodded in response, immediately slamming his hand over his mouth when he realised what he'd said.

"Buffy?" Jennifer raised her eyebrow. "The new slayer is called Buffy?" She could help but laugh at that. "Do all Slayers have weird names?"

"Guess so," Xander shrugged as he finally started the engine, nodding to himself as the engine purred at him. "So, straight to Sunnydale then, or do you want to stop off in LA first?"

"LA first," Jennifer said as Xander drove the car out of the parking lot. "Going to need to crab some stuff from my house first."

"Cool," Xander nodded with a smile. "So… uh… about last night?"

Jennifer's laugh filled the car as Xander turned onto the main street and headed out of Tulsa, it was a long drive to La, but now they had music and something to talk about at least.

* * *

Jennifer flicked off the radio as she pulled into the drive way to her house on the outskirts of LA, they'd been driving now for nearly twenty hours solid, having been taking breaks only for the bathroom or to pick up snacks and drinks before changing drivers every few hours.

After twenty hours with the young man, she was now quite versed in his entire history, his friends and life back in Sunnydale, though there were some aspects of his life that he seemed to completely close down on when she asked about them, like his parents and what his childhood was like growing up.

It seemed he was more than happy to talk about his friends and school life, his comic collection or what music he liked. But any questions about his parents just closed him off and he'd divert the question with some stupid joke or something about passing traffic. It was something she was definitely going to look into later on, maybe place a call back to Detective Stabler and see if he had managed to dig anything up on Xander's home life.

"Xander," Jennifer smiled, shaking him awake. "We're here."

"Hnh?" Xander mumbled almost incoherently as he roused himself and looked around, the first shock being that Jennifer was actually back in her normal human form instead of her She-Hulk form that he'd taken for granted now. It seemed she actually preferred to be in that form, she seemed more confidant and experienced as the She-Hulk, whereas when she was Jennifer she was quite quiet and reserved. "Oh, hey." Xander smiled up.

"We're here," She smiled over at him.

"Oh cool," Xander smiled back as he stretched his arms up and worked the muscles in his back a bit, being cramped in a car for nearly a day straight was not good for muscle stiffness. He got bored easily as it was, so having nothing to do but talk and play silly travel games hadn't been good for him, he was sure he'd said something stupid at least once or twice on their trip so far, and it wasn't even over yet. "Whoa, you live here?" He asked, looking out at the condo ahead of them.

"It's not much," Jennifer smirked as she got out of the car and stretched. "But its home." She smiled before taking her jacket off and throwing it into the car before stretching more and changing into her She-Hulk persona. "Ahh that feels good." She smiled as Xander got out of the car. "You should try it, it's exhilarating."

"I'm good," Xander said with a small smile as he looked at Jennifer's now amazon physique. "Really."

"Go on," Jennifer laughed. "You'll never get used to it if you just keep bottling it up, you'll end up like Bruce that way."

Xander's eyes widened that that comment, ending up like Bruce Banner was definitely top of his list of things not to do with his life. "But… what if I..."

"I'll be here," Jennifer said with a slow nod as she moved around the car to come and stand next to him. "I'll stop you if you look like you're going to lose control or anything."

"Promise?" Xander asked, looking up at her with worry in his eyes.

"Cross my heart," Jennifer said seriously with a smile on her lips. "Go on, trust me, it's good to stretch out once in a while."

"You're sure. I mean, I'm good like this, really," Xander protested but relented under the soft glare she gave him. "Fine," He grumbled as he took off his shirt and stood there in just jeans and t-shirt. "Ok, what do I do?"

"Right," Jennifer smiled down at him as she began her lesson. "Remember how you change back? The calm feeling you have to embrace, the focus on shifting back to your normal form?"

"Yeah," Xander nodded, having been practicing being calm all the way here in the car, which was made especially hard with some of the drivers he'd seen while driving past Albuquerque.

"Now, do the opposite." Jennifer nodded slowly. "Focus on something that makes you angry, something that makes you scared. Any strong emotion will do, just hold on to that feeling in your mind and let it fill you."

"Jen, I don't."

"Don't worry, I'll stop you if it goes too far," Jennifer smiled at that way Xander was worried about hurting anyone or anything around him, he was so much like Bruce sometimes it was funny. "Just focus on that feeling, and concentrate on it, let it fill you up."

Xander said nothing; he just simply stood there and closed his eyes, a look of concentration flooding his face as he tried to find a moment where he'd been truly angry or scared, his eyes shot open as he found a memory that worked for him. The last day of school last year, when Willow had been put in hospital by Angelus' flunkies, the memory and the feeling of pure rage flooded his body as he fought to keep control. "Jennifer, I…"

"It's alright, just let it happen." Jennifer said, standing back as she watched his eyes grow wide, the iris taking on a bright green hue.

"Ughh." Xander groaned out as the feeling of rage filled him, the feeling of pure helplessness at Willow's injury, how she'd been put in hospital by vampires all because Buffy couldn't have seen sense and dusted Angelus when she'd had the chance.

Jennifer's eyes widened as the black t-shirt that Xander was wearing was pushed to the limit by his growing muscles, he grew over four feet in a matter of seconds, within moments the t-shirt was ripped apart from the inside, Xander's new muscles being too large for the shirt to contain. His jeans sadly suffered the same fate, the thighs of the jeans being stretched to breaking point before the sound of denim tearing echoed through her driveway.

"Grrah!" Xander roared out as he stretched for the sky in his new form, his fists clenched as he flexed his muscles and stretched, getting used to his new body as he looked around. "Jennifer?" He asked, looking down at her. Before, he'd always looked up at her when she was in her She-Hulk form, now he was looking down from a clean two or three feet above her.

"Xander?" Jennifer asked slowly, her smile showing how well he'd done. "You alright?"

"Ugh," Xander nodded slowly before shaking his head. "Fuzzy, fuzzy head."

"Slow down, it'll clear," Jennifer nodded as Xander rubbed his head, ruffling his already wild hair. "How does it feel?"

"Hnh," Xander frowned, shaking his head again. "Good, head hurts but good."

"Ok, focus on my voice alright," Jennifer smiled, it was good that he'd managed to change and keep most of his personality with the change, obviously his intelligence had suffered somewhat but he clearly wasn't the savage brainless brute that Bruce was when he changed.

"I… I'm good," Xander said slowly as he continued to rub his head and clear the cobwebs. "Wow, I mean just. wow."

"It's something isn't it," Jennifer laughed as she stood next to him and wrapped her arm around him, frowning when her arm only got about two thirds of the way across his back.

"Still feeling a bit fuzzy up there," Xander said, tapping the side of his head with a finger than was larger than a coke can now. "It just takes a bit of concentration to think, like I'm drunk or something."

"Good analogy," Jennifer nodded. "You ok up there?" She asked with a smirk as she looked up at his eyes.

"Yeah," Xander grinned as he flexed his arm muscles, his eyes widening as he looked down at them. "Wow, they're big."

Jennifer just laughed and squeezed the muscle that Xander had flexed, sure enough the muscle was rock hard and about twice as large as her already sizable hand. "Want to give them a work out hunk?" She smirked as Xander's eyes locked onto hers. "Well you have to have a name."

"I'll decide later," Xander said slowly, shaking his head again.

"There's a gym area round back, should be enough to see what you're capable of lifting." Jennifer nodded as Xander looked towards the condo.

"Are you sure, I mean, I don't want to break anything or anything," Xander frowned at his choice of words. "Sorry, like I said, fuzzy."

"You'll get used to it," Jennifer nodded. "Come on, we can stay here tonight and head down to Sunnydale tomorrow morning."

"Lead the way," Xander nodded as Jennifer pulled out the boxes from the back of the car and handed them to Xander, who easily held them in one arm as if they weighed nothing at all.

"Follow me then," Jennifer smiled, grabbing her holdalls before heading towards the condo. "I've got a pool in the back as well, turned everything off when I left for New York but it shouldn't take long to heat back up again."

"Pool?" Xander grinned. "Cool, you never said you were rich."

"You never let me," Jennifer laughed as she unlocked the front door and moved inside, standing aside so Xander could get by, watching him duck down low to get in the door and then standing upright again.

"Wow, tall rooms," Xander commented as he looked around, marvelling that he could actually stand upright without bashing his head on the ceilings here like he'd done at the truck stop or at the hospital.

"Had the place built from scratch," Jennifer nodded as she closed the door. "Some friends from Manhattan designed it for me, its Hulk proofed, so I don't have to worry about breaking anything here."

"Cool," Xander nodded as he waited in the hallway for Jennifer to lead the way through into the condo. "Built in case the Hulk comes to visit or something?"

"He's stayed here before once or twice," Jennifer smiled. "He's not in America much, but likes to see how I'm doing when he comes over." She waved him on as she picked up the holdalls again and moved down into the main living room. "Drop them in here, we can." She trailed off as she walked into the living room and stopped dead. "Lindsey." She frowned, dropping the holdalls on the floor.

"Jen," The man said with a smug smile, the smile soon dropped as soon as Xander entered the room though. "Didn't realise you had company."

"Didn't realise you made a copy of the key," Jennifer frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"Just popped in to see you," The man smiled softly as he stood up and straightened his expensive suit. "Your friend could use a better tailor."

"They don't make jeans like they used to," Xander smirked as he stepped into the room, sensing Jennifer's unease with the man there.

"I'm sure," The man said wryly, glancing at Xander's powerful muscles before turning back to Jennifer. "I'm surprised you didn't call before you got out, you didn't tell me you were planning on leaving."

"It just sort of happened," Jennifer said slowly, careful not to mention anything about Nick Fury or her connection with SHIELD. "Not that it's any of your business."

"I brought you in Jen, got you the job, sponsored you with the firm," Lindsey smiled. "I'd just like to know what happened, why you decided to turn on us like that."

"I'll uh." Xander said awkwardly, trying to figure out what exactly to do in this situation.

"It's alright," Jennifer smiled at him before turning to Lindsey. "He was just leaving."

"Got yourself a new playmate now then?" Lindsey said smugly, eying Xander carefully. "Bit bigger than your last one, but then I suppose Russell got you everything you needed right?"

"I don't talk to Russell anymore," Jennifer glared at him, a flash of anger crossing her eyes. "You should know better than to bring him up."

"I'm meeting him tonight," Lindsey said as he stepped forwards close to her. "I'll be sure to pass on your best wishes."

"You do that," Jennifer said, narrowing her eyes at him. "I might pop over myself later, show him just how thankful I am for what he did for me."

"That wouldn't be wise," Lindsey frowned at her. "He's a big player now, one of Wolfram and Hart's interests."

"And that says it all," Jennifer said wryly, stepping out of Lindsey's way. "Leave the key on your way out."

"Fine, be like that," Lindsey smiled at her as he fished a key out of his pocket and dropped it on a side table. "I only did the best for your Jennifer, got you a job when no one else would hire you, I did everything I could to make sure you were happy."

"And the firm promoted you for it," Jennifer said as she glared at him. "Don't think I don't know what you got out of the deal, and Wolfram and Hart were just priming me to take over as DA for them."

"It would have been a big coo for you," Lindsey said with a shrug. "You'll have to tell me how you got them to let you go so easily, I didn't think you had that many friends left."

"You'd be surprised," Xander said before he could help himself, drawing Lindsey's attention back to him.

"You're not Doctor Banner," Lindsey said as he stared over at Xander, memorising the face to research later. "Thought you said there were only the two of you."

"He's none of your business," Jennifer said with a glare. "Now, weren't you leaving?"

"Whatever you want," Lindsey smiled softly. "You can always come back you know, I'm sure the Senior Partners would love to have you on retainer again."

"Not likely," Jennifer sighed. "Now, are you going to leave or do I have to throw you out?"

"Hulk smash." Xander commented with a smirk, causing Lindsey to glare at him and Jennifer to break out in a laugh.

"Fine," Lindsey's smile had completely vanished by this point. "I'll pass on your well wishes to the team."

"Don't bother," Jennifer shrugged. "Don't think I didn't know what they all said about me back there, behind my back of course, none of them actually had the spine to say anything to my face."

"We had some good times Jen," Lindsey commented as he moved towards Xander. "But then, I see you have your new toy right here."

"Jealous?" Jennifer laughed. "He's twice the man you ever were."

Lindsey's eyes flashed angry for a moment as he glared at Jennifer before turning to Xander. "You should think about what I've said, we could always use a man like you at the firm."

"No thanks," Xander shook his head, staring down at the tiny lawyer in front of him. "Law isn't really my strong point."

"Suit yourself," Lindsey shrugged. "If you change your mind." He held out a card for Xander to take but repocketed it when Jennifer cleared her throat.

"You can leave now," Jennifer said with a touch of a threat in her voice. "Or I'll throw you back to your vaunted offices."

"Fine," Lindsey said calmly. "I'll be in touch."

"Don't bother," Jennifer frowned as Lindsey squeezed past Xander and out of the room into the hallway, she didn't say anything until she heard the door shut to let them know he'd left properly.

"Work friend?" Xander said slowly as he walked further inside the living room and put the boxes on the floor, it was still a struggle to talk properly but if he concentrated he could slowly think properly, it was like his mind was partially clouded or something.

"Wouldn't exactly call him that," Jennifer sighed as she dropped down and sank onto a couch. "He got me the job at Wolfram and Hart, sponsored me or something, we kinda started dating after that."

"Ah," Xander nodded as he looked around the living room, it was sparsely decorated, with two large couches and a large TV, but plenty of room to walk around and stretch, even for someone as big as he currently was. Everything seemed to be the right size for him and Jennifer though; he'd noticed that when he'd seen the lawyer sat on the couch, like it was two sizes too big for him.

"Mixing work and pleasure, hear that's a bad thing to do."

"Wouldn't exactly call it pleasure," Jennifer smirked at him. "Like I said, you're twice the man he was." She laughed as Xander's face blushed a dark green. "He's dangerous though, I think the firm has plans for him, he always seemed to be the one in the know when something was happening there."

"Not really afraid of a lawyer," Xander smirked. "What's he going to do, sue me?" He laughed as he sat down on the couch next to Jennifer, marvelling at how the couch held his weight easily. "Wow, we'll have to get your friend to help with the stuff at the house in Sunnydale."

Jennifer nodded at this with a smile. "Been meaning to call Reed for a while now, see how he's doing. I'll call him once we're settled in at the house; we'll just have to be careful until then."

"I'll cope," Xander smiled, it was nice being in his Hulk form now that he was getting used to it, it seemed like emotions ran higher in this form than they did normally, like he was feeling everything a lot deeper than he normally did.

"I'm sure," Jennifer smirked at him before frowning. "Something Lindsey said just made me think, he said he'd be talking to Russell later on."

"Who's he?" Xander asked, turning to he could face Jennifer properly and listen to what she was saying.

"Well, I told you I knew about vampires right?" Jennifer grimaced as Xander nodded at her. "He's a vampire."

"What?" Xander almost shouted before reigning his anger in. "A vampire, and you knew him?"

"He was a client, I did his paperwork, filed his business papers, things like that," Jennifer justified herself. "He always had mysterious expenditures that Lindsey would take care of; I just figured they were for sunblock or something like that."

"Or to cover up whatever he's doing," Xander growled out. "He's a vampire, like evil, grrr," He mocked a vampire face, scrunching his forehead up. "They're not good guys."

"I know, I know," Jennifer sighed. "He was just so friendly, always asking me to introduce him to my friends, I took one of them to meet him once, she moved back home soon after without even saying goodbye."

"Jen, he…" Xander trailed off, not wanting to say what he was thinking.

"No," Jennifer shook her head, knowing what Xander was going to say. "I saw the receipt for the plane ticket back to Colorado, Lindsey showed me all…" She trailed off, as if finally putting it all together.

"Lindsey, the guy that does all his 'special expenditures'?" Xander asked softly.

"Yeah," Jennifer narrowed her eyes as it all clicked into place for her finally. "He killed her didn't he?"

"Probably," Xander nodded softly. "Vampires are evil, they kill people, and it's what they do. Just because this one has fancy lawyers and stuff, doesn't make him any different to any other vampire."

"And Lindsey's gone over to tell him all about me and you," Jennifer sighed, dropping her head into her hands.

"You know where he lives?" Xander asked, placing his hand on Jennifer's thigh to pull her attention back to him. "You could go and find out for yourself."

"I know he killed her," Jennifer said sadly. "I tried calling her before, but her phone was disconnected, tried writing her and everything, I guess I never wanted to admit what he did."

"So, we go and stop him," Xander said simply. "Stop him from hurting anyone else, he's done this before, you know it."

"And he'll do it again," Jennifer nodded as she stood up. "Be a nice test to see what you can do as well," She smiled, leaning down and kissing Xander softly on the lips.

"You sure?" Xander said as he stood up. "About going after him I mean, the kiss as well though." He smiled goofily as Jennifer laughed at him.

"Yes, and yes," Jennifer laughed, pulling his head down for another kiss. "I've fought vampires before, so have you, it'll be good to get a bit of exercise in before we reach Sunnydale."

"I'm game," Xander laughed, flexing his arm muscle again and grinning at their size and obvious power.

* * *

The car ride over was certainly interesting, Xander had had to push the passenger seat in the car all the way back to allow for the legroom in his new body. He was now more thankful than ever for having a convertible rather than a hard top car. He'd offered several times to change back to his normal body, but Jennifer had convinced him than he'd be better off getting used to this body first before they got to Russell's place, that way he would actually be able to know partially what his body was capable of before they got into the fight.

"Wow, is this…" Xander trailed off as Jennifer pulled the car to a stop along the quiet road, it was a large mansion out of the main city towards the hills. Fortress like gates up ahead blocked the entrance with high walls and spiked metal on top of them.

"I always figured he just liked his privacy," Jennifer nodded. "Guess it's more to stop people getting out than to stop people getting in."

"Ok," Xander nodded as he climbed out of the car, not bothering to open the door, rather just stepping over it after bracing one foot on the chair. "You think they do shoes in this size, because bare foot?" He asked with a smirk, looking down at his giant green feet, it wasn't as if the pebbles or dirt underfoot were actually bothering him, he could feel them but they weren't even registering as an irritant under foot.

"Doubt it," Jennifer laughed as she got out of the car as well. "I'm thinking we knock first, then harder if he doesn't want to talk."

"Sounds good," Xander nodded as he flexed his shoulder muscles in readiness for a fight, reviling in the power that his new form afforded him. "I could get used to this you know, feels good not to be the zeppo anymore."

"Told you," Jennifer laughed as she started walking towards the main gates. "It's like everything's hyped up, the sensations, the feel of everything, the…" She trailed off as she stopped and moved over towards the wall more. "Someone's already here." She said quietly, nodding up ahead where a black car was parked by the gateway. Neither of them had noticed it until now in the dark, but closer up the detail was obvious in the night under the lights from the main gate.

"Think it'll be a problem?" Xander asked as he looked ahead to see if he could make out what was going on.

"Doubt it," Jennifer smirked as she tapped his arm muscles gently. "Probably just a security check or something, nothing major. We can wait for them to go if you want or."

"Nah," Xander frowned. "Probably vamps hired by this guy for protection, master vampires seem to like having flunkies working for them, that's probably what this guy does."

Jennifer nodded in agreement; she didn't have as much experience with vampires as Xander did, so was willing to bow to his expertise on this matter.

"Let's just go say hi," Xander grinned as he started walking towards the gate and car again. "Never know, they might let us in if we ask nicely."

"Pft, yeah right," Jennifer laughed as she walked alongside him. "Somehow, I doubt it'll be that simple."

"You never know," Xander grinned as he walked slowly towards the car, now seeing there was someone in the driver's seat but no one at the guard post by the gates. Quietly he edged closer, careful not to make any sound as he approached.

"Ahem, green card?" Xander grinned as he announced himself, causing the occupant of the car to spin around to see him.

"Sweet mother of god," The man in the exclaimed in horror, scrambling to open the car door and practically falling out when he managed it. "Take it, take the car, anything, just don't... aww man, I never shoulda let him talk me into this, I'm a lover not a fighter."

"You going to let us inside sweetie?" Jennifer smiled as she came up alongside Xander, still laughing from Xander's entrance.

"In there, you want to go inside?" The man shouted out in shock, his eyes still wide at the sight of Xander and Jennifer towering over the car.

"Sure," Xander grinned. "Unless you want to stop us that is?" He laughed before Jennifer tapped on his arm.

"I don't think he's security," Jennifer said, nodding to the security booth where a man in a beige security uniform was slumped on the floor. "Think someone beat us here."

"He a vamp?" Xander asked, glaring down at the small man who smelled of cheap Irish whiskey.

"Vamp, vampire you mean?" The man stammered out. "No, no don't think so, Angel never said."

"Angel?" Xander shouted out, stepping forward. "A vampire, Angel, with a soul, wears a lot of black, lots of gel in his hair?"

"Aye, that's the one, you know him?" The man stammered out as he backed up from Xander's hulking form.

"Sadly," Xander frowned. "What's Angel doing here then?"

"Some girl in trouble, he thinks the guy inside killed her." The man explained, holding his hands up in the universal 'I surrender' pose in an effort not to anger the two giant green hulks.

"Fine," Xander frowned before turning to the gates. "Did he open the gates or?"

"Went over," The man said quickly. "Took some kit as well, don't know what he has planned, just said he wanted to share his feelings with the guy, whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Fine," Xander snarled as he grabbed the gates with both hands and pulled, stumbling back as she gates easily came free, sending shards of stone from the wall mountings all over the place. "Huh, thought they'd be stronger." He commented as he dropped the gates down onto the hood of the back car, frowning as they scratched along the paint work and dented the metal. "Sorry about that."

"No problem," The man said quickly. "I'll square it with Angel; you know how it is right?"

"Angel's car?" Xander smirked, looking down at the damage he'd inadvertently caused. "Forget the apology then." He smirked before turning back to where the drive way was clear towards the main house. "Shall we?" He asked, holding out a hand for Jennifer.

"Oh our first date," Jennifer laughed as she took his hand. "You sure know how to show a girl a good time." She smiled as they walked through the hole Xander had created by ripping the gates away, leaving the man stood by the car and pile of twisted black metal bars, simply watching them with wide eyes.

"You never said anything 'bout Hulks," He said, looking skyward. "Hope Angel knows what he's lettin' himself in for." He muttered to himself before reaching into his jacket and pulling out a whiskey flask and taking a mouthful from it.

* * *

"Big place," Xander commented as he walked up the white marble steps next to a large ornate fountain at the front of the mansion. "The guy's got money then."

"Loaded," Jennifer nodded as she walked alongside him. "Owns Winter Enterprises, has a lot of deals with up and coming stars, big deals with movie contracts and TV shows."

"Think he'd be interested in a Hulk show?" Xander commented idly as they reached the top of the stairs as he looked at the large wooden doors ahead of him.

"The only thing he ever wanted me to do on film was strip for him," Jennifer muttered angrily. "Kept saying no and he kept asking."

"Well, you've got the body for it," Xander grinned as Jennifer slapped him on the arm lightly with a smile. "What, it's the truth." He laughed as he reached out and placed his hand on the door. "Shall we knock?"

"Allow me," Jennifer grinned as Xander stepped back away from the door, she walked forwards slowly then let out a mighty kick that caved both of the doors inwards and sent them flying into the main entrance. "After you." She grinned, mocking a bow and motioning for Xander to take the lead.

"Oh, ladies first," Xander laughed back, staring at the two doors that had crashed inwards and were now in pieces on the floor.

"Such a gentleman," Jennifer smiled as she ducked under the doorway and walked inside, waiting in the entranceway for Xander to walk through. "He's probably in his." She paused as eight men with guns came out of the side rooms and instantly started firing at them.

"Get down," Xander shouted, instinctively swinging forward to cover Jennifer with his own larger frame.

"Thanks hun," Jennifer grinned. "But I got this." She laughed before diving out from under him and jumping towards the men, covering the distance easily with one leap. No sooner had she landed than she grabbed one of the guns and swung it around, the man on the other end of the gun not having the sense to let go and being swung around with the gun, barrelling through the other men as he went.

"Show off," Xander grinned as he watched, quietly in awe at how fast Jennifer was moving and taking the gunmen down. "Hey, leave some for me." He laughed as he dived forwards and sent a punch into the head of the closest man, causing him to fly back from the impact and collapse to the floor a dozen or more feet away. "Whoa," He muttered as he backhanded another man away, sending him flying through some doors and into another room. "I know you said strong, but I didn't think you mean Superman level strong," Xander said to Jennifer above the gunfire as he grabbed another man and threw him into the same room the other man had gone into.

"Told you," Jennifer laughed as she dispatched the last gunman with a kick then sent him flying into a wall where he embedded into the plaster and hung there like some macabre decoration. "Now, to the main event." She paused, looking around. "Russell!" She shouted out. "I know you're..." she trailed off as she noticed movement on the floor above them at the top of the stairs. "Up there." She said, nodding upwards for Xander to look.

"Wait." Xander frowned as he noticed the form on the floor above them was female and dressed in an elegant black dress. "Cordelia?" He shouted, watching as the woman turned to look at them with wide eyes.

"Jennifer." A man said as he slowly walked across the landing towards Cordelia. "I heard you weren't working for me anymore."

"You killed her," Jennifer growled out as she stepped forwards and started moving up the stairs. "Don't bother denying it, it was all too easy to piece together once." she paused as all the lights in the mansion went out at once.

"Xander?" She asked, turning around to see Xander slowly walking up beside her.

"Not me," Xander shrugged. "Let her go, if you've hurt her, so help me." Xander shouted up at Russell, his eyes flashing with anger at the thought of Cordelia being hurt.

"Russell Winters," Another voice joined the conversation as someone moved out of the shadows on the other side of the balcony.

"Angel?" Cordelia asked, turning around to the voice when she recognised it, her eyes still trying to focus in the dark.

"I have a message, from Tina." Angel said slowly as he walked out of the dark to where everyone could see him.

"Get in line," Jennifer shouted up as she continued to walk up the stairs. "He killed Sam, he's mine."

"Who are you?" Angel said, looking down the stairs at her. "Harris?" He asked, his eyes widening as he saw Xander's face on the hulking beast beside her.

"Hey deadboy," Xander grinned as he walked forwards. "I wouldn't get in her way, don't think you'd like her when she gets angry. Come to think of it, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry either."

"Xander?" Cordelia asked in shock as she finally placed the face and voice. "Oh my god, Xander, what happened to you? I didn't know you were a demon, why didn't you tell me?"

"Excuse me," Angel said calmly. "Can we get back to this now; I had this whole speech and everything."

"Don't bother," Jennifer said as she reached the top of the stairs and looked down at Angel. "He's mine."

Whatever Angel was about to say was interrupted as Xander reached the top of the stairs, his hulking form towering over Angel as he stood on the balcony. "It's personal, leave it to her." He nodded, turning to Cordelia. "Did he hurt you?"

Cordelia shook her head, the fear in her eyes showing as she slowly made her way across the balcony to where Angel was stood, staring at Xander's muscles the entire time.

"Get out of her," Xander said simply, looking at Angel. "Your guy's outside with the car, sorry about that by the way." He grinned as he saw Angel's eyes narrow at the mention of his car.

"Harris, what did you do?" Angel asked, staring at Xander's huge green form, his eyes widening at the muscles on his chest and arms.

"Not here," Jennifer snarled out as she grabbed Russell by the shirt and yanked him close. "You always said, you could do anything, were always interested in my friends. How many of them did you kill, how many?" she shouted, lifting Russell a clear two feet off the floor.

"He's dead," Xander commented idly to Cordelia. "So, Cor, how ya been?"

"Xander, oh my god, Xander!" Cordelia shrieked out, moving away from Angel slowly towards Xander, craning her neck to look up at him as he towered over her. "What happened to you?"

"Bit of trouble in New York," Xander grinned, flinching as he watched Jennifer pound Russell to the floor before picking him up again and throwing him to the ceiling before letting him drop again. "That's gonna leave a mark." Xander grinned. "Long story, you like?" He grinned, flexing his arm muscle for Cordelia and smiling as her eyes widened.

"You're so filling me in buster," Cordelia shouted, slapping him on his abs lightly. "Jesus, what are you, metal or something?" She muttered, shaking her hand from the pain.

"Something," Xander laughed as Jennifer continued to pick Russell up and pound him against the solid marble walls. "You done yet hon?" Xander called over, causing Cordelia and Angel to turn to Jennifer with surprised looks on their faces.

"Nearly," Jennifer shouted back, in between slamming Russell's body into the floor and stamping on it. "Anyone got a stake, I didn't think."

"Oh, yeah," Angel said off hand, pulling a stake out of his pocket and holding it up.

"Thanks," Jennifer smiled as she picked up Russell with ease and carried him over before dropping him on the floor unceremoniously. "You mind?"

"Not at all," Angel shrugged before thrusting the stake clean through Russell's heart, his shirt and suit already torn and bloodied from the fight, his face nearly unrecognisable even in his vampire form from the blood and mangled flesh. Everyone watched as the vampire turned neatly to dust on the floor with a 'poof' sound before they all looked around at each other.

"So, LA huh?" Xander commented idly to Cordelia. "How's that working for you?"

"Oh great, I've had commercials, the hands in the Jem washing up commercial were nearly mine, by like one or two people." Cordelia commented as she walked down the stairs towards the main hall next to Xander.

"So cool," Xander nodded as he walked. "So what's the deal with deadboy, you working with Angel now?"

"Are they always like this?" Jennifer asked as she walked down the stairs next to Angel, who was still looking at Xander in awe and horror.

"Hmm, Harris? Yeah," Angel nodded. "Big and green though, it's a new look for him. His shirts used to make my eyes bleed, but I don't think he ever had any in quite that shade."

"I know what you mean," Jennifer laughed. "I burnt the last shirt he showed me."

"Thank god," Angel muttered under his breath.

"I can hear you know deadboy," Xander shouted back. "Don't make me come back there and hit you, because I can now ya know?"

"Leave him alone," Cordelia said, defending Angel with a slap to Xander's chest again, this time pulling the slap so she didn't end up hurting her hand again. "What are you doing in LA, and who's the green chick?"

"Jennifer," Xander laughed. "The She-Hulk? Ever heard of her?"

"I do watch the news dweeb boy," Cordelia shot back with a glare, forcing herself to look upwards so she could glare into his eyes. "So, you're like a Hulk now?" She asked, putting her hand on Xander arm and feeling the muscle beneath. "Wow, how much do you weigh now, or lift, oh my god, I bet you're stronger than Buffy now!"

"I don't know," Xander laughed as they walked out of the house into the night, ducking under the doorway as he did. "They should have someone take a look at that, shoddy workmanship."

"Yeah," Jennifer replied with a grin. "We just knocked and it caved right in, no defence against door to door salesmen."

"You two are as bad as each other," Cordelia said despite the smile on her face. "God, what are you calling yourself now, The Hulk's already taken you know."

"I noticed," Xander said dryly as they walked down the steps.

"Well, come on, you've got to have a hero name." Cordelia smiled. "Wait, you are a hero right, you're not one of those tacky villains who just saves the girl to make themselves look good?"

"No Cordelia," Xander sighed, shaking his head in amusement. "I'm just me."

"Good, then you need a name. Hulk Jr, li'l Hulk?" Cordelia grinned at the glare Xander levelled her way. "Xulk, Hulk-X, oh come on, Hulk-X rocks!"

"Give it up Cor," Xander said with a smile. "I don't need a name, I'm happy with just Xander."

"Are you in LA now then, working here I mean?" Cordelia said, turning to Jennifer as well as she and Angel walked up beside them on the stairs. "And talk to him, he needs a hero name."

"I'm staying out of it," Jennifer laughed.

"Nah," Xander shook his head. "We just stopped off here on our way back to Sunnydale. Just picking up some stuff when this sleazy lawyer type came to talk to Jennifer, and now we're here, so."

"Angel, thank god," The man by the car came rushing up as he saw the four of them walking towards him down the driveway. "Did you get him?"

"She did," Angel said, nodding to Jennifer. "Bit brutal, but I think it got the point across."

"Speak for yourself," Xander frowned. "I only got to hit one guy, I mean how is that fair?"

"I counted two," Jennifer laughed. "And you threw that guy about fifteen feet across the room."

"Doesn't count," Xander said, shaking his head.

"You know these guys Angel?" The man asked in amusement, barely able to take his eyes of Jennifer's amazon body.

"Yeah," Angel nodded. "Doyle, this is Xander and Jennifer apparently." Angel introduced them both. "Xander's from Sunnydale, he used to hang around Buffy."

"Ohhh gotcha, friends with the Slayer, muscles like that must come in pretty handy there," Doyle nodded in appreciation as he looked up at Xander's face towering above him.

"Wouldn't say that," Angel frowned. "He just used to get beat up all the time and played as bait."

"Hey," Cordelia shouted, this time defending Xander.

Xander on the other hand just reached over and grabbed Angel by the jumper, picking him up with ease until he was about four feet off the ground and dangling in mid-air. "What did you say Captain Hairgel?" Xander asked, bringing Angel up close to his face to Angel could see just how big Xander really was right now.

"Xander, leave him alone," Jennifer said calmly. "He's just a vampire, not some toy for you."

"Could always play fetch," Xander said with a glare at Angel, showing that he actually meant it. "Think I could hit Sunnydale from here?" He asked, pointing towards the horizon.

"Xander, you put Angel down right now." Cordelia shouted, glaring at him. "Just because you were a dweeb in high school doesn't give you the right to pick on him now you're bigger than he is."

"Awww," Xander sighed, simply letting go of Angel and letting him drop to the floor. "Can't I just hit him, just once?"

"No," Cordelia said, moving to stand in front of Angel. "Angel's a good vampire remember, or are you as thick as the other Hulk?"

"Cordelia." Jennifer said simply, putting as much warning in her voice as she could. "Don't make him angry."

Cordelia seemed to pull herself in at this, actually looking up at Xander as if seeing what he was for the first time. "Oh my god, you're really like him aren't you?" Her eyes softened as she saw Xander's eyes properly. "Can you even change back, my god, what happened to you?" She paused turning to Jennifer. "Did you do this to him, did he ask you to turn him into this thing?"

"No Cordelia," Xander said, bringing her attention back to him. "She did it to save my life, it's not her fault I ended up like this."

"You saved his life?" Cordelia asked, looking at Jennifer in a new light. "Well, he always did like strong women, first Buffy now you, you have a thing for dominant women, you know that right? You should see someone about that really."

"Like you were complaining," Xander shot back with a smirk.

"You wish dweebo," Cordelia smirked back before poking her tongue out at him.

"God, it's like being back in high school," Jennifer groaned as she leaned on Angel's car with a sigh. "Do men ever grow up?"

"With Harris it'd be a miracle," Angel commented as he moved to stand next to her. "You really saved his life? What happened to him?"

"Saved some kids," Jennifer said softly. "Some paedophile in New York, he stopped him from abusing them, got pretty badly hurt in the fight."

"Sounds like Harris," Angel nodded with grudging respect for the young man. "After his home life, don't think he'd stand by and let kids gets hurt, not if he could take the punishment for them."

"He had a bad childhood?" Jennifer asked, sensing that Angel might actually have some information about Xander that she wouldn't be able to get from him.

"Something like that," Angel nodded. "Never got the details, know his parents were drunks and the town losers, they didn't even care when he was in hospital once or stayed out late with Buffy."

"Abusive?" Jennifer asked, the anger inside her growing at what Xander must have been through growing up. It was a miracle he turned out to be the good young man he was today, instead of a punk looking for revenge on the world.

"Not that I ever saw," Angel shook his head. "But I didn't pay him that much attention, like Cordelia said; he was just the zeppo of the group back there."

"He calls himself that," Jennifer frowned at the name.

"Was a joke once from Cordelia," Angel explained off hand. "She told me about it once, was before they were dating I think."

"They dated?" Jennifer asked, looking over at the two who were still arguing, even though Xander towered over the petite brunette, Cordelia didn't seem afraid of him and was getting her own verbal shots in.

"For a while," Angel nodded. "Don't know how she put up with him to be honest. She was the queen of the school back then, and he was just a looser kid."

"Don't think you get to call him that anymore," Jennifer smirked over as Angel looked at Xander's hulking muscles with no small amount of fear in his eyes. "He'd do it you know, throw you like a javelin."

"I got that," Angel nodded. "He was never one to bluff, guess I always admired him for that in some way. Not that I'll ever admit that if you tell him."

"My lips are sealed," Jennifer smirked. "Xander, come on." She shouted over, causing Xander and Cordelia to look over to them. "We've got to get the house stuff sorted, come on, you can catch up with your friends later."

"Fine," Xander smiled down, the hostility in his eyes gone now as he looked at Cordelia. "You look good Cor, hope it works out for you here."

"You too," Cordelia laughed as she walked across with Xander towards Jennifer and Angel. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but look after him ok, and if you hurt him."

"I get the picture," Jennifer laughed as Xander blushed lightly. "But Xander can look after himself now."

"So I see," Cordelia smiled. "Are you two, you know." She grinned at Jennifer with wriggled her eyebrows. "Because he does this thing…"

"I so don't need to hear this," Angel interrupted the two by pulling the metal gates off of his car with a bit of effort. "Get in the car Cordelia, you two Doyle."

"Look after her Angel," Xander said, putting his giant hand on the hood of Angel's car for emphasis. "If you hurt her, I'll come looking for you."

"Xander," Cordelia sighed out, slapping him on the side. "Leave Angel alone."

"Fine," Xander frowned, but didn't take his eyes off Angel to let him know he meant it. "Call me if you need us alright?" He said, turning to Cordelia and picking her up easily in a hug.

"You too," Cordelia laughed as she was enveloped in a hug about four feet off the ground. "Now put me down you big lug."

Xander laughed, putting her on the floor before turning to Doyle. "Nice to meet you," He nodded as Doyle continued to look at them both, speechless with wide eyes.

"Yeah, sure, uh, nice to meet you two as well," Doyle stammered out, craning his neck upwards to look at Xander's face before getting in the car next to Angel as he watched the two Hulks walk off. "You never told me you knew The Hulk, Jesus Mary and th' other one, his fist was bigger than my head."

* * *

"Feel better now?" Jennifer asked as she drove the car back to her condo, specifically taking the back streets around town so they could get there without really being noticed.

"Strangely yeah," Xander nodded, still getting used to his new body. "Can't believe Cordelia was here, how strange was that, and Angel, I knew he left town but didn't think he'd stay that close."

"What's the deal with him anyway?" Jennifer asked quietly, sensing it was a sore topic for Xander. "He's a vampire, but not like the other vampires, is he some Anne Rice wannabe or something?"

"Something like that," Xander laughed, memorising that for future use. "He got cursed, got his soul back. Now he's one of the good guys I guess."

"You guess?" Jennifer asked with a raised eyebrow. "I get the feeling you don't like him that much."

"What gave it away?" Xander smirked.

"Aside from you threatening to throw him a few hundred miles?" Jennifer laughed. "Come on, what's the story."

"He was Buffy's boyfriend back in high school," Xander shrugged, seeing no point in lying about anything here. "He turned evil once, nearly killed us all."

"Ahh, so you think he might go evil again?" Jennifer asked softly.

"Yes, no," Xander shrugged. "I just don't like the guy ok, he's a vampire and there was this whole big prophecy thing where Buffy was going to die. I found Angel just sat at home reading, not doing a thing to stop it."

"He's a coward then," Jennifer said off hand.

"Don't know," Xander shrugged, a movement that looked completely foreign on his huge frame. "I just don't trust him."

"Ok, fair enough," Jennifer nodded, willing to accept this for the moment but wanting to get more of the story later on. "So, Cordelia's your high school sweet heart then?" She laughed as Xander groaned.

"Can't we talk about something else?" He asked with a sigh as he looked around, not wanting to catch Jennifer's eyes in case she used her version of the resolve face on him.

"Did you do that thing with your tongue for her?" Jennifer asked with a smirk, wiggling her eyebrows and causing him to blush. "Because that would definitely get you in with the queen of the school."

* * *

"Are you ok?" Jennifer asked as she led the way into the living room where she slumped on the sofa. "You just seemed quiet on the ride over."

"Yeah," Xander nodded, still not used to his new form yet. "It's just… a lot to get used to ya know, I'm The Hulk, or a Hulk, it's just really hitting me now."

"I know the feeling," Jennifer nodded, thinking back to how she'd felt when she first changed. "It was hard for me to accept as well. The first time I changed I was pretty savage, you're lucky you didn't have to deal with anything like that."

"Yeah," Xander nodded absently. "It took some time, but my heads getting a bit clearer, still not as sharp as normal, like I'd had a few shots of vodka or something."

"I don't even want to know how you know what that feels like," Jennifer smirked at him as she stood up and made her way over to stand in front of him. "It'll get better in time, mine did. At first I was just as savage and brutal as Bruce is, but I got there eventually."

"Cool," Xander said simply with a smile.

"We just need to teach you a bit of control," Jennifer smiled. "And that doesn't mean practicing throwing vampires like javelins. You never know where the might land."

"On the moon?" Xander asked with a grin. "Because you know, I could probably reach." He was cut off by Jennifer smacking him on the arm. "You know, we really need to talk about this need of yours to smack me."

"Awww, poor big bad Hulk," Jennifer smiled mockingly. "Want me to kiss the boo boo better?"

"Give you a boo boo," Xander laughed, grabbing Jennifer with both hands around her waist and lifting her up.

"Hmm, this is more like it," Jennifer laughed, leaning down and kissing him before wrapping her legs around his waist. "Finally, you're getting it." She grinned as Xander kissed her back, letting go of her she simply hung onto his neck and held herself in place with her arms and legs.

"Are you sure, I mean… can we, like this?" Xander asked, looking around the living room. "It's… well, ya know, everything's kinda big like this you know?" He said awkwardly, trying to get his point across.

"Hmmm, I can feel," Jennifer smirked as she loosened her grip with her thighs and slid down his body a bit to grind into his groin. "Don't you want to?" She asked, dropping to the floor herself before trailing kisses down his chest.

"More than you know," Xander ground out as he watched her. "It's just…"

"What?" Jennifer paused where she was kissing before flicking her tongue out and teasing around the waistband of his jeans. "You weren't a virgin right, tell me that wasn't your first time?"

"No, no," Xander laughed nervously. "Second?" He said with a shy grimace.

"You're doing fine then," Jennifer grinned up as she stood up. "So Cordelia then?"

"Nope," Xander shook his head. "Never got past the fooling around stage, lots of foreplay and fun, but no actual. you know."

"Hmmm, she missed out," Jennifer smirked at him, moving in close to his she kissed him again while rubbing the front of his jeans with her hand. "So, who was your first then?" She grinned as she kissed down his neck, actually enjoying being with someone that was as big as she was for a change.

"Faith," Xander groaned out as Jennifer slipped her hand down inside his jeans and grinned at him. "A Slayer."

"You had your first time with a slayer?" Jennifer asked, her eyes shooting wide at this bit of information and what her hand had clasped around. "Sheesh, no wonder you're used to dominant women."

"You could say that," Xander ground out as Jennifer continued to tease him.

"Bet she showed you some things," Jennifer smirked as she stepped backwards, keeping hold of him and pulling him gently towards the bedroom. "It was her that showed you that tongue trick, right?"

"Yes," Xander gasped out as he moved to keep up with Jennifer who was now leading him along.

"I'll have to thank her," Jennifer grinned as she bumped open the bedroom door with her ass before continuing inside. "Sounds like my kind of girl."

"Just like you," Xander laughed as Jennifer reached the bed and sat down on it before literally ripping the jeans away from Xander's body. "Wow." Xander breathed out as he looked down for the first time and saw what Jennifer's hand had actually been playing with.

"Wow indeed," Jennifer smirked up at him, reaching up to grab his arms she pulled him down on top of her on the Hulk sized bed. "Now first, about that tongue." She grinned as she pushed him further down the bed.

"Yes Ma'am," Xander grinned as he started to kiss around the purple and while leather leotard she was wearing before slowly unzipping it and kissing the jade green skin underneath.

* * *

Xander woke up with a grin the size of a small bowl on his face, like he'd been sleeping with a spoon in his mouth or something, of course the grin got even larger when he looked down and saw the sleeping form of the She-Hulk in bed with him, her arm and leg thrown across his body and covering it effectively.

"Thank you god," Xander whispered to any deity that was actually listening as he leaned across with his neck and kissed Jennifer on the head. As he leaned across it became very apparent to him that he was back in his normal body and not in the hulking form he had gone to sleep as last night.

He waited for a moment, watching Jennifer sleep and breath before slowly moving out from underneath her arm and sliding down under the covers so he could get under her leg and to the bottom of the bed without waking up. He grinned as he got about half way down the bed and noticed the little black lacy thong she was wearing. Smirking to himself he leaned over a placed a soft kiss on the front of the fabric before continuing to slide down the bed and out of the bottom of the cover.

"Big bed," Xander muttered to himself as he stood up and looked at it for the first time at his normal size, it was easily larger than king size or queen size, obviously a custom built bed, mattress and quilt he mused as it seemed to be the perfect size for Jennifer in her Hulk form. If they were both in their normal human forms the bed could have easily slept five or six of them with room to spare.

As pulled his boxers and torn jeans back on he looked around, the entire room seemed built for Hulk sized people, the chairs were too big, the doorways were huge, literally everything was one or two sizes too big, it made him feel like some sort of midget or gnome walking around the house.

As he walked out into the hallway he remembered where the living room was, he remembered that one from last night, and she'd shown him where the bathroom was from the bedroom. So that only left three doors to try.

"And behind door number one we have." Xander muttered to himself as he opened the first door. "Whoa, ok. not what I expected." Xander smiled as he stepped in, inside was a literal Hulk sized gym. The equipment and weights were huge, way above even slayer levels of strength. "Ok, so big ass weights for Hulks, I get that." Xander shrugged as he stepped back out and closed the door.

"Ok, door number two." He smiled as he opened the next door across the hallway, unsure what he'd find inside. "Kitchen, thank you god." He grinned as he walked inside. "Ok, this isn't a problem." He frowned to himself as he quickly realised the counter and cupboards were way too tall for him to actually work with properly, he could probably manage but it would be a stretch to even reach the top cupboards, let alone get anything out of them. Moving back to the other side of the room he grabbed one of the large stools from there and pulled it over to the kitchen area.

"You should change,"

Xander smiled as he turned around to see Jennifer walk in; wearing just the black thong she had been wearing earlier in bed. "But where's the fun in that?" He grinned as she walked over and kissed him. "Besides, how was I to know your entire house would be super-sized?"

"You didn't guess from the bed?" Jennifer smirked as she flicked the kettle on.

"Should have," Xander nodded. "Dunno, I just kinda like being me sized."

"Oh I kind of like you both sized," Jennifer smirked sultrily at him as he jumped off the stool and moved to stand next to her. "You can't say you didn't enjoy last night."

"Hulk like," Xander nodded with a grin as he looked up at Jennifer. "I'm actually liking the amazon thing though, it's kinda kinky."

"Kinky?" Jennifer laughed at him. "I'll show you kinky later on, if you're lucky."

"Yes mistress," Xander smirked with a small smirk. "You sleep alright?"

"Hmmm," Jennifer sighed happily. "Been a long time since I've slept that well, been a while since I've been worn out like that either."

"Glad you approve," Xander grinned, happy for the praise for once. The sex had been absolutely mind-blowing last night, between the two of them, with their size, strength and stamina, they'd been able to do things that Xander was pretty sure were illegal in most states.

"And don't think I didn't feel you this morning mister," Jennifer smirked down at him, pointing to the front of her thong. "I was awake you know." She smiled mischievously at him.

"Why didn't you say something then," Xander frowned as Jennifer kissed him again.

"Was more fun to watch you crawl out from under me," Jennifer laughed. "Not like you were complaining either."

"Well, no," Xander shrugged. "You do know how hot you are right?"

"Thank you," Jennifer smiled from the complement as she fetched out a normal sized mug for Xander and one of her sized ones for herself. "So, what do you want to do today then?"

"Whatever," Xander shrugged. "Haven't got to be back in Sunnydale until Monday, but it would be good to be back before I've got to register for college, still can't believe Fury set that up like that."

"Get used to it," Jennifer smiled as she started making coffee for both of them. "He pulls stuff like that all the time, like a chess master or something, moving his pieces around."

"Hey, I'm nobody's 'piece'." Xander frowned, thinking about how Nick Fury had arranged that, he'd obviously known well in advance what Jennifer was going to do and run checks on Xander easily enough, from the paperwork he'd seen in the folder so far, Fury already had every bit of information on Xander anyone would ever need.

"Oh I don't know about that," Jennifer smiled, licking her lips at him. "I think you're a very nice piece." She trailed off as she moved up close to him, her hand rubbing his crotch through his jeans as she kissed him deeply.

"Flurble." Xander muttered out as Jennifer broke the kiss and moved away with a smirk playing on her lips.

"Are you always this articulate?" Jennifer asked as she finished the coffee before replacing the milk into the oversized fridge.

"Only when faced with a green goddess in lingerie first thing in the morning," Xander grinned. "Normally I can make one or two syllable words."

"Funny," Jennifer smiled at him as she handed over the coffee. "So, relax for a bit before we head over to Sunnydale, give you chance to work out if you want, see what you can do."

"Sure," Xander nodded as he took a mouthful of the coffee. "I saw the gym room, pretty cool stuff. I take it you had to get everything specially made in there."

"Yeah," Jennifer nodded slowly. "Reed, Reed Richards, he designed it all, he designed this house actually. He's pretty much a genius when it comes to anything like this, superhuman stuff I mean."

"Ahh, cool," Xander nodded, the name was ringing a bell with him from somewhere but he could exactly place where he'd heard it before. Probably something Willow said about computers or something he mused.

"But first," Jennifer smiled "I want to see what Nick left us, knowing him it's probably going to be something useful."

"Ohh yeah, I'd forgotten about those." Xander grinned as he followed Jennifer through the kitchen to the living room, practically unable to keep his eyes off her perfect ass the entire time.

"I can feel you watching you know," She smirked as she led him into the living room where they'd left the boxes and bags from last night.

"It's a nice view," Xander commented honestly as he instantly snapped his eyes back to looking straight forward.

"I didn't say I minded," Jennifer laughed as she turned to face him, reminding him that she was still actually topless walking around the house. "Come on, after this you can cool off in the pool."

"Now that's an idea," Xander grinned as he grabbed one of the boxes and tore the tape off the top of it. "What the." Xander trailed off as he pulled out what looked to be a pair of pants, but they were made out of some fancy material. They looked almost like leather but covered in a dark blue mesh with black down the sides.

"That's definitely Reed's work," Jennifer nodded as she saw the pants. "Ben was wearing something similar last time I saw him, more spandexy though, not as much leather in the look."

"The guy that designed the Hulk proof house?" Xander raised an eyebrow as he held the pants up against him. "Bet ya they fit as well."

"Suckers bet," Jennifer grinned as Xander fished into the box and pulled out a leotard made of the same material. "Matching clothes?" She raised her eyebrow at Xander. "If I didn't know better I'd say Nick was getting ahead of himself."

"Like you said, he probably knew everything before we even did," Xander said with a small smile. "Try it on."

"You as well," Jennifer smirked over with a raised eyebrow. "They look skin tight, can't wait to see you in them."

"Hah hah," Xander muttered sarcastically as he did look at the pants closer, sure enough they did appear to be skin tight, he stretched the fabric experimentally a few times, trying to tear it but it held firm. "Hey," He muttered as something was thrown at his face, only noticing it was Jennifer's black thong when it fell to the uniform.

"Go on," She laughed, holding her leotard out in front of her, ready to step into it.

"Fine," Xander relented as he pulled off his torn jeans, pouting playfully as Jennifer's leotard was held out to stop him from seeing anything.

"Uh uh," Jennifer smirked as she dropped the leotard and walked over, putting an extra swing in her hips. "Boxers too."

"We'll never get anything done like this," Xander smiled as she played with the waistband of his boxers before tugging them down playfully.

"Behave," Jennifer laughed playfully, tapping him lightly on the groin.

"Can't help it," Xander laughed. "Green amazon undressing me, going to provoke a reaction in anyone."

"Well tuck it away for now," Jennifer laughed as she handed him the pants he'd dropped on the floor. "We can play once we've got this all sorted."

"Fine," Xander pouted as he started pulling on the pants. "Pretty comfy," He nodded as he pulled them up, stretching the waistband a bit to test movement in them once they were on properly. "Warm too, remind me to say thanks to this Reed guy you keep talking about."

"Turn," Jennifer said playfully, motioning with her finger for him to turn around in a circle. "Not as tight as I would have liked," She grinned at him. "But I approve."

"Gee, thanks," Xander smiled back in response, a small blush appearing on his face. "Your turn."

"You wouldn't rather I stayed like this?" Jennifer asked, a mock look of shock on her face before she posed elegantly for him.

"You'd look stunning in anything, you know that," Xander smiled at her. "But I want to see how tight this is on you, it's only fair."

"Fine," Jennifer nodded, unzipping the back of the leotard before stepping into it and pulling it up her body. The design was pretty much the same as Xander's, a dark blue mesh type material with a black leather stripe running down each side. "Zip me up would ya." She smiled as Xander moved behind her and quickly pulled the zip upwards, pulling the fabric tight over her body as he did.

"Hmm, nice," Xander smiled from behind her approvingly.

"You like?" She grinned, turning around so he could see the front. This leotard wasn't as low cut as her previous one, and padded out a bit more for comfort and base armour. It also felt strangely warm, a lot more comfortable than her previous one that Janet van Dyne had personally designed for her.

"Looks good," Xander nodded. "Guessing they're designed to stretch when I Hulk out or something, because that fit over you pretty easily."

"Knowing Reed, they probably do more than that," Jennifer nodded. "I'll call him in a bit and find out."

"Sure," Xander nodded, folding up his torn jeans and boxers for the moment to pack away later. "So, what other goodies did we get for Christmas this year?" He grinned as he dove back into the box. "Huh?" He frowned when he pulled out a smaller box with Jennifer's name on it. "For you I guess," He shrugged as he handed it over. "Heavy though."

"It's from Ben," Jennifer read off the card. "Reed came up with this a few months ago, meant to give it to you last time we met, forgot. Ben." Without waiting any further she opened the box and pulled out the gift inside. It looked like the top of a sledgehammer or something, with a small purple clasp on the underside.

"What ya got?" Xander asked as he looked at the lump of strangely shaped metal with a puzzled look on his face.

"Not sure," Jennifer frowned as she flicked the clasp, causing a long metal handle to extend out of the bottom, effectively turning it into a hulk sized hammer of sorts.

"Wow," Xander looked on with wide eyes. "Cool toy. Buffy coulda used one of those back in school."

"Hmm," Jennifer smiled as she held the grip and swung it around carefully a few times, just to judge the weight and feel of it. "Feels a lot lighter than it should," She commented. "Guess there's a story behind this as well."

"I'm guessing there's going to be a story behind all of this," Xander motioned inside the box where various odds and ends were still packed away. "I haven't got a clue what half of this is supposed to be anyway."

"I'll call Reed," Jennifer nodded after a moment before she moved to the TV at the front of the lounge and turned it on by placing her hand on the screen.

"Touch screen, cool," Xander grinned, impressed by the simple gadget already.

"Gift from an old lover," Jennifer smiled, running her thumb over the Stark Industries logo at the top left hand corner of the wall mounted flat screen.

"Call Reed." She said simply and the black screen was replaced by a spinning '4 'logo.

"Reed Richards," Xander finally put it together. "The Fantastic Four, he's Mister Fantastic!"

"Yeah, I thought you knew," Jennifer smiled as the logo was replaced by Reed's face. "Reed, its Jennifer."

"I can see that," Reed laughed down the video link. "Good to hear from you, I heard you were in New York but didn't get time to pop in and see us."

"Kind of a rush visit, last minute arrangements and all." Jennifer explained with a smile. "You look good, how's Sue?"

"She's fine thanks," Reed smiled. "Guess this is the kid Nick was talking about."

"Xander," Jennifer said by way of introduction, waving Xander forwards so Reed could see him properly. "Thank you for the things, though I'm kind of at a loss as to what half of them are."

"Hi Xander," Reed said with a wave, ignoring Jennifer for the moment. "The pants fit alright, sorry if they don't, it was kind of a rush job working on some of Johnny's old measurements."

"The… they're good… thanks," Xander stammered out, unable to believe that he was actually talking to Mister Fantastic. He'd seen the newspaper clippings of what happened when he was in High School, with the space station incident and how they'd all gained their powers.

"Good to hear," Reed laughed at Xander's reaction. "Nick tells me you're a vampire hunter but didn't give me specifics, so I just went with the basics. I see you got the hammer Jen."

"Yeah, it's nice work, thanks," Jennifer smiled, twirling the hammer experimentally in her hands. "It's light though, what's it made of?"

"That's a good question," Reed nodded. "There's an axe in there as well, same box I think, Nick just threw things in there and I didn't catch which one. They're made of an Adamantium and Trinium composite, lighter than normal Adamantium but not as tough, should still do for you two though."

"Adawhatium?" Xander asked with a confused look on his face.

"It's a metal," Reed smiled, used to dumbing things down for Johnnie and Ben. "The military was experimenting with it back in world war two, probably before as well. It's supposedly indestructible, though we've never had an upper ground to test it on. So far it's held up to every test though, without even scratching."

"Indestructible hammer, cool stuff." Xander nodded in thanks.

"Like I said, there's an axe as well, be careful with it though, I had Ben sharpen the edge personally. It can cut him, so it'll probably cut you two as well." Reed cautioned as he saw Xander dive for the box and start rummaging through it.

"Thanks for the warning," Jennifer nodded. "How is Ben anyway?"

"He's good; out with Sue at the moment, they're dealing with some problem up in Canada somewhere, with all this nonsense about a mutant registration act, there have been some hotshots causing trouble up there." Reed explained with a frown, his tone making it perfectly clear what he actually thought of the mutant registration act.

"Tell him hi for me," Jennifer smiled.

"Will do, what do you think of the new place then, I know it was a bit of a rush job, to be honest I'm surprised Nick pulled it off in a day." Reed smiled patiently as his arm stretched around out of camera and returned with a drink.

"I haven't seen it yet," Jennifer said with a raised eyebrow. "We're still at my place. We were heading on to Sunnydale later on. God, does he know everything we do?"

"Probably," Reed laughed. "Look, I've got to go, Franklin's crying and Johnny's no good with him at the moment."

"Terrible Two's?" Jennifer laughed questioningly.

"As bad as advertised," Reed laughed back. "Nice meeting you Xander, you'll have to pop in next time you're in New York."

"S... sure," Xander nodded as he came back over to the video link and smiled over at the man.

"Enjoy the gifts," Reed said with a smile before the video link vanished, leaving just a black screen again.

"I can't believe you know him," Xander grinned. "Mister Fantastic, I was talking with Mister Fantastic. God, I wish Willow could have been here, she'll never believe me."

"I'll invite them over some time," Jennifer laughed at Xander's antics. "I'm sure Johnny would get a kick out of seeing the vampires in Sunnydale."

"Oh god," Xander stifled a laugh at that. "Found the axe." He grinned, holding up the axe blade. It was about five times the size of his hand currently and shaped like some sort of Klingon weapon from Star Trek, there was the same purple catch on the base of it where Xander's hand was, so it looked like he could either use it one handed like it was, or as a normal full sized axe. "Pretty heavy though."

"Bet it won't be when you're Hulk sized," Jennifer laughed, feeling the weight of her own hammer. "I guess Reed designed these for use when you're a Hulk, not normal sized."

"Probably," Xander nodded as he looked at the blade, it was obviously too large for him to use effectively when he was in his human form, but he guessed it would be just about the size of a normal axe for him when he was Hulked out. "What was all that about the house?"

"Reed thought we were already there," Jennifer mused quietly. "Which means he's already given Nick all the equipment that I have here, otherwise he'd have known we were here instead."

"Fair point," Xander nodded, it made sense to him. "So, what, he's already Hulk proofed the new place?"

"My guess," Jennifer nodded. "And knowing Reed, a few upgrades as well."

"Sweet," Xander grinned. "So, unpack there then?" He grinned, flipping the catch on the axe and causing the handle to spring out so fast the axe flew out of his hands and dropped to the floor, where it promptly embedded itself blade first in the carpet. "Uh, sorry?" Xander grimaced apologetically as he reached down and tried to pull the axe free.

"Be careful," Jennifer said as she watched Xander try and pull the axe free. "Remember what Reed said, that's sharpened Adamantium, it could cut through your arm like paper." She rolled her eyes as Xander continued to try and pull the axe free, completely unsuccessfully.

"Yeah, I got that," Xander frowned as he tried every angle possible to dislodge the axe from the carpet. "What's under here anyway, wood or something?"

"Solid steel," Jennifer laughed as Xander's eyebrows shot up. "I told you, the house is Hulk proof." She smiled before reaching down with one hand and pulling the axe free in one smooth motion. "Nicely balanced though," She said approvingly as she swung it around testingly. "Perfectly balanced I'd say, love to know who he got to design it."

"Buffy would kill for that," Xander smiled as he watched Jennifer swing the axe around like a warrior born, the blade literally singing through the air as it moved. "No way I'm letting her anywhere near it." He grinned as Jennifer pressed the catch again, causing the solid metal handle to disappear into the blade. "How does it do that?" He asked as he took the blade back off her, eying the space where the catch was and where the handle had vanished seamlessly into the metal.

"You'd have to ask him," Jennifer frowned. "He's the genius, knowing him it'll probably be something to do with trans-dimensional subspace pockets or some other technobabble."

"Stick with magic handle, gotcha," Xander grinned as he looked at the leather stripe down the side of his pants where there were two metal circles he hadn't noticed before. "I wonder." He mused quietly before slowly lowering the axe down to the metal circles where it snapped on perfectly like some sort of magnetic field was holding it in place.

"Nice accessory," Jennifer smiled as Xander tested pulling it off and replacing it with ease. As it was the axe blade was about as tall as his entire thigh, but it was definitely a handy place to put the weapon.

"Yeah, you'll be seeing it on next year's catwalk," Xander quipped with a grin.

"Don't let Janet hear you say that," Jennifer laughed as she finished off her coffee. "So, relax or gym?"

"Both?" Xander smiled as Jennifer led the way out of the living room into the Hulk sized gym area.

"There's normal weights down the far side," Jennifer nodded as she moved through the gym easily to the other side, where she pressed a button and the large glass doors opened to reveal the pool outside.

"I kinda want to see what I can do as The Hulk," Xander said as he followed Jennifer outside, pulling the axe blade off of his pants as he walked and setting it down carefully on a table by the pool.

"That would be good," Jennifer nodded. "You threw those gates around pretty easily last night, so I'm guessing you're about as strong as me, roughly anyway."

"Let's find out," Xander nodded, looking at her to check that she'd be there if anything went wrong with his change.

"Deep breaths remember, focus on that feeling you had before." Jennifer said slowly, backing away from him to give him room to change properly.

"Ok." Xander nodded, closing his eyes so he could focus. He chose the same memory, of Willow being hurt by Angelus' flunkies, how angry he'd felt at Angelus, how he wanted to tear off the vampires head with his own hands.

His breathing caught as the change started to ripple across his body, his muscles bulging as they grew exponentially. His skin and hair taking on a dark green tone as he grew, the muscles on his chest and arms tensing and stretching involuntarily as his back arced from the immense strain put on it from the change.

"Grah!" Xander roared loudly as he stretched for the sky, the muscles on his back and stomach rippling as they grew and bulged under his thick jade skin. "Gah," He groaned as he stretched. "Does… does that ever get easier?" He asked, shaking his head as the haze returned to his mind.

"Not really," Jennifer answered honestly as she stepped forwards. "Is your head still fuzzy though?"

"Yeah," Xander answered slowly. "Bear with me, just need…"

"Here," Jennifer laughed, stepping forwards and pushing him with one hand, causing him to topple over and land in the pool with an enormous splash.

"Blah!" Xander spluttered as he returned to the surface of the pool, spitting out water and wiping his tussled hair from his eyes. "Not funny." He said, glaring up at Jennifer as he stood up in the water, quietly marvelling how the water barely reached up to his stomach.

"I thought it was," Jennifer laughed as she jumped in the pool next to him, splashing him again with water and sending waves over the side onto the warm concrete flooring. "Did it help?" She asked as she surfaced, her green hair now matted to her head and back, while the water glistened on her smooth emerald skin.

"Strangely yes," Xander admitted before Jennifer pulled him in for a scorching kiss. "Although, that might have helped more." Xander grinned cheekily as she broke the kiss.

"Really?" Jennifer smirked at him before splashing him with a wave of water. "Cool down hunk or you'll steam up the water." She laughed as she moved to get out of the pool.

"Hah hah," Xander groaned as he reached forwards and grabbed her from behind, pulling her back into another deep kiss. While he was enjoying the kiss his mind enjoyed out much more confidant and free he felt like this, it was like he could do anything, a freedom he never felt when he was normal.

Jennifer was quite happily enjoying the kiss as well; it had been a long time since she had actually been with a man where she didn't have to hold back. Now Xander was here, it felt like she could really cut loose and be herself with him. Even with previous boyfriends who knew what she was, she was always holding back, afraid to hurt them in bed or scare them off with her power, it wasn't like she was showing off or anything, but to get a decent work out on the weights she was looking to lift sixty to seventy tons, something none of her boyfriend's previously, even Ben, could have competed with.

"So, where were we?" Xander grinned as he released her from the kiss.

"Testing your strength," Jennifer smiled as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, causing him to stumble slightly before keeping his balance.

"Fine," Xander grinned, reaching under her and cupping her ass with one of his giant hands before lifting gently. "Let go," He smiled as he slowly lifted her out of the water and above his head. "Easy." He laughed, bringing her back down as she sat comfortably on his hand before he pushed her back up again.

"Ok smarty, that's enough," Jennifer grinned despite herself, it wasn't every day someone could life her up like that, and she actually found Xander's sense of humour quite infectious sometimes.

"As my lady insists," Xander smiled, simply tipping his hand to the side and sending Jennifer back into the water with a giant splash.

Xander looked around for a minute when Jennifer didn't immediately surface from the water, trying to figure out where she'd gone or if he'd hurt her by dropping her like that. His fears were immediately banished however when he felt her quickly tug his new pants down before surfacing in front of him. "I suppose I asked for that." Xander grinned as he felt her continue to push the pants down his leg with her foot.

"You did," Jennifer smirked at him before reaching around to undo her own leotard, unzipping it with ease before pealing the wet fabric from her skin and pushing it slowly down her body.

"I thought you wanted me to behave," Xander commented as he watched her step out of the leotard before pulling it off and throwing it onto the concrete floor in the sun to dry off.

"I changed my mind," She grinned, diving under the water and pulling Xander's pants away from his body, lifting up his feet one by one to pull them free. "Besides, these need to dry off before we drive up to Sunnydale."

"Oh I'm not complaining." Xander smiled as Jennifer resurfaced, the water playing across her skin now like diamonds on a bed of emeralds.

"I can see that," Jennifer said sultrily, with a nod down to Xander's body under the water. She then walked forwards and pressed their bodies together, capturing Xander in a deep kiss while her arms wrapped around him and pulled him tight against her.

* * *

"Hmmm," Jennifer sighed as she reclined back on the concrete, having now dried off and switched back to her old white and purple costume to laze in the sun for a bit. "How are you doing in there?" She asked, flipping her sunglasses up to look inside the gym where Xander was testing his strength quite happily.

"Good, I think," Xander paused in the middle of a two handed curl, using one of the speciality bars that Jennifer had for lifting weights in her Hulk form. "Sixty-five tons, I think." He trailed off as he finished another curl with a grunt, his powerful arm muscles flexing under the strain and bulging outward.

"About sixty thousand kilos then," Jennifer nodded over watching the strain on Xander's face we he put the weight bar back on the specially created frame.

"Jesus," Xander groaned as he stretched, wiping the sweat from his body with a towel from the side. "What are these things made out of?"

"Reed made them for me," Jennifer explained as she stood up and walked over. "Some super dense metal he cooked up, don't even ask me to pronounce it for you. Some twisted form of Osmium I think, he needs Johnny to make the stuff using levels of heat I don't even want to think about."

"Heavy stuff," Xander punned with a grin.

"Too right," Jennifer grinned back. "I don't think even a slayer could lift that, and I'll bet you can go higher with some training."

"Higher?" Xander asked, his eyes shooting wide. "Whoa."

"It's something Reed explained to me," Jennifer said as she sat down on one of the weights benches and idly started lifting the weight with her legs. Forty tons Xander noted as he watched. "When you're a Hulk, your strength comes from your normal muscles, which is why I have the normal weights as well." She explained, nodding over to where the smaller weights were kept. "You bulk up as normal, and the Hulk bulks up by an exponential factor. Bulk up as the Hulk, and your normal body bulks up less, or slower. It's weird; I'll get him to explain it more, he knows more than me about it. I think only Bruce knows more about this sort of thing, but he was more interested in the science behind it than the actual practical explanation."

"Gotcha," Xander nodded with a frown. "So if I train as me, the Hulk will get bigger as I do, right?"

"Essentially, yes." Jennifer nodded as she stopped playing with the weights.

"So why didn't you just say that?" Xander grinned over as Jennifer rolled her eyes at him.

"Are you ready to go then?" She asked, stepping off the weights bench and taking her sunglasses off.

"Sure, I'll stick the boxes in the car, if you want to grab anything else you want. I mean, we can always come back, if you need anything else, I'm happy to drive you." Xander smiled as they walked out of the gym area and back into the main living room.

"I think I've got everything," Jennifer nodded at the holdalls she'd packed. "Mostly clothing, I figure between Reed and Nick, the house will be well stocked already anyway."

"Fair enough," Xander nodded as he put the axe back in the box along with his old torn clothing before closing it back up. "You know, this is much easier in Hulk form."

"Tends to be," Jennifer nodded as she moved into the bedroom and started pulling clothes and underwear out of her draws and throwing them in another holdall. "I'll get someone to pop in from time to time, check the place over. Could always rent it out I guess, I know Steve is looking for a new place."

"Yeah, sure," Xander shouted out as he carried the two boxes past the bedroom door and outside where he placed them in the back of the car.

"What do you think?" Jennifer called out as Xander walked back into the bedroom, this time in his human form. "Comfy?" She asked as she packed both sets of lingerie instead of waiting for his answer.

"Yup," Xander nodded as he picked up his shirt from last night and threw it on, not bothering to do it up in the nice summers day. "Think last night shot the suspension as it is; don't want to push it on the trip home."

"Ah," Jennifer nodded, closing her eyes and concentrating for a second before shrinking back down to her normal human sized physique. "Better?" She asked as Xander came over.

"You're beautiful either way," Xander smiled as he kissed her gently before picking up one of the holdalls and carrying it out of the room.

"And he knows the right things to say," Jennifer smiled to herself as she pulled her glasses out of the bedside table and put them on before quickly changing into a tight pair of jeans and loose top, both of which she threw over the new leotard Reed had sent for her.

"Just these then?" Xander asked as he came back in the room, smiling when he saw her dressed in jeans with the top now tied around the top of her stomach to show off her midriff.

"Yup," Jennifer nodded down to the two holdalls.

"Cool, ready to go then?" He asked as Jennifer took one last look around the room before picking up one of the holdalls herself.

"Yeah, I'll put the alarm on as we go out, the doors will automatically shut and lock from there." Jennifer explained as she led the way out of the room towards the front of the condo.

"Nice, let me guess, Reed?" He joked as he walked outside and threw the holdall in the back of the car before leaning on the hood to wait for her to set the alarm.

"Tony actually," Jennifer grinned as she set the alarm and closed the front door on her way out. "The guy's a genius when it comes to electronics."

"I'll keep that in mind next time I have trouble setting my VCR," Xander laughed as he took the holdall off of her and put it in the back of the car. "Ready?"

"Not quite," Jennifer smiled as she reached into the back of the car and pulled out the cowboy hat she'd bought for Xander yesterday. "Now I'm ready." She laughed as she put the hat on and replaced her normal glasses with the prescription sunglasses from her pocket.

"Let's rock then," Xander smiled as he opened the car door for her first, letting her in the passenger side before walking around and getting in himself.

"That was so eighties," Jennifer laughed as he turned the ignition and started the car. "Tell me you did that on purpose?"

"Sorry," Xander grinned unrepentantly as he carefully reversed down the driveway and out onto the main road. "Can't help it, it just slips out sometimes."

"Well keep it in there," Jennifer laughed as she turned on the radio and found a country and western station. "Get with the nineties already."

"Yeah, because rap is so great," Xander said with a roll of his eyes as they headed up the hill and away from Los Angeles, back towards his friends and the mouth of hell itself.


	3. Chapter 3

"Any man of mine better walk the line," Jennifer sung at the top of her lungs as they drove through Sunnydale, causing more than a few pedestrians to turn and stare at Xander's cyan convertible as it drove alone. "Better show me a teasin' squeezin' pleasin' kinda time."

"We're nearly there," Xander interrupted by flicking off the radio, he'd had Jen singing country and western songs all the way from LA to Sunnydale, it actually wasn't that bad as she generally liked to sing the fast paced ones and bounced her head along with them, causing her hair to fly about in the wind.

Jennifer smiled as she looked around. "So, this is Sunnydale huh?" She asked, looking around the small town as Xander drove along the high street.

"Yup, the Hellmouth itself," Xander smiled as he drove along. "Well, not really, 'cause it's sort of buried at the moment under the high school."

"The high school?" Jennifer asked, lifting up her sunglasses to look at Xander to see if he was kidding. "Buried?"

"Uh, yeah, long story." Xander said off hand as he turned off the high street. "There was thing whole thing with the mayor turning into a giant snake and all, very disturbing."

"I'll bet," Jennifer nodded slowly in disbelief.

"Anyway, we kinda blew up the school during graduation, had to really to kill the demon-mayor-snake thing. Was the only way, really, honest."

"You blew up your high school," Jennifer said slowly. "And this was before you became a Hulk?" She raised her eyes to the sky, silently uttering a prayer to anyone that was listening.

"Hey, I know how that sounds," Xander grinned as he slowed the car down. "Willow!" He shouted, seeing his best friend walking along the sidewalk with Oz. "Willow, my god it's so good to see you." He laughed, pulling the car to a stop on the side of the road and jumping out over the door.

"Xander!" Willow exclaimed, turning around in time to see Xander vault a car door before enveloping her in a hug. "Xander, get off of me," She laughed after a moment, pulling away from him.

"Oz, hey." Xander grinned, holding out his hand for Willow's boyfriend to shake. "Sorry about that, needed a Willow hug, it's been like a month or something."

"Something," Oz frowned, sniffing the air and not taking Xander's offered hand. "What are you?" He asked simply, not beating around the bush.

"Ah, yeah, shoulda thought about that," Xander grimaced as Oz stepped in front of Willow when Jennifer got out of the car and walked over. "Willow, Oz, this is Jennifer."

"Nice to meet you both," Jennifer smiled as she came alongside Xander and slipped her arm around his.

"Same as you," Oz said thoughtfully, not moving from in front of Willow.

"Werewolf," Xander whispered to Jennifer when he caught her questioning look.

"That'll do it," Jennifer nodded. "No harm, not a demon." She whispered the last part in a voice she knew the young man would be able to hear.

"Mutant?" Oz mouthed with a small smile.

"Something close," Jennifer nodded as Oz relaxed slightly.

"So, how have you been?" Xander asked, now that Oz shook his offered hand.

"Good, you?" Oz answered simply.

"Good," Xander grinned as he answered in the same tone of voice. "Seriously good, man, I can't wait to tell you guys what I've been upto. Willow, you'll love this, Jennifer actually knows Reed Richards, yeah, Mister Fantastic himself!"

"Oh my gosh, really?" Willow burst out in a big grin, turning towards Jennifer as she did.

"Yes really," Jennifer laughed at Willow's enthusiasm. "I've known him for a few years now."

"So are you... you know." Willow grinned, nodding to Xander with a slight blush in her cheeks.

"You know, if you're old enough to do it Willow," Xander grinned as Willow slapped him on the arm. "What, just saying... college now, should be able to say the adult words."

"Are you?" She asked, glaring at Xander.

Xander this time said nothing, waiting for Jennifer to explain.

"I say yes," Oz nodded after a moment. "They both smell the same."

"Have I mentioned, the smell thing, gross." Xander frowned at Oz.

"Yes we are," Jennifer laughed. "It's kind of new though, so we're just sort of seeing how it goes."

"Fair," Oz nodded.

"Thanks," Xander grinned. "So where is everybody, it's been ages since I've seen you all. How's Buffy?"

"She's with her mom," Willow explained with a smile. "Finishing packing up before college starts."

"Let me guess, you've already packed, dusted and got half of your things labelled and ready to move in." Xander smiled as Willow nodded at him.

"Darn tootin'." Willow grinned. "So what are you doing, now you're back?"

"UC Sunnydale," Xander grinned. "College boy."

"Oh my god, you got in?" Willow broke out in a huge smile, leaping forward to hug Xander. "You didn't even tell me you applied, ohhh, what courses are you taking, we can have lunch together, or maybe free periods, are you staying on campus, ohh, we could all get a place together!"

"Whoa, Willow, slow down." Xander laughed, still trying to piece together everything she'd just babbled out and put it into a coherent structure.

"She's worse than Reed." Jennifer said in awe, staring at the petite redhead.

"I don't know what courses yet, I'll be sorting them out on Monday," Xander smiled as he ticked off one finger he was holding up. "Yes, we can lunch, yes we can chill on frees, no I'm not staying on campus, and no, I don't think a house together would be good." Though a slayer in hulk proof housing would cut down or repair bills, he mentally added in silence.

"Where are you staying then?" Willow asked. "You're not going back to your parents are you, Xander you can't."

"Chill Wills," Xander smiled as he clamped his hand over Willow's mouth. "No, we've got a place in Sunnydale, so I don't have to go back there… and ewww!" He frowned, pulling his hand away when Willow licked it. "Speaking of, where is this place?" He frowned thoughtfully for a minute before jogging back to the car and grabbing the folder Fury had left for him. "Uh, Roxbury Avenue?" He asked. "Not ringing any bells here."

"It's up by Cordelia's old house," Willow said automatically. "Turn left off her road and it's down there on the right I think. Hey, you've moved in there?"

"Apparently?" Xander shrugged, looking at Jennifer for confirmation.

"A friend of mine owns it, he's letting us use it for the time," Jennifer answered, thinking up a believable explanation quickly, that was close to the truth so that Xander wouldn't have to lie to his friends.

"Oh," Willow said simply, a little deflated by this. "We'll still see you though, right, you're not turning into Cordelia or something, ewww, was dating her catching or something?"

"No Willow," Xander grinned at her antics. "Like Jen said, we're just borrowing it from a friend." Who gave it to us, he added silently. "Still the same Xander, come on, you can come and see it with us."

"Xander, do you." Jennifer started to object but was cut off by Xander quickly.

"Come on, I'll shift some stuff in the car, you can help us unpack," Xander grinned as Oz shrugged when Willow looked at him. "I'll spring for pizza?" He offered as a bribe.

"Fine, but no anchovies," Willow said using her resolve face.

"No salty fishies," Xander nodded as he moved back to the car and started moving the boxes and bags around to create some space on the back seats. "Check."

"Xander, are you sure?" Jennifer whispered as Oz and Willow climbed into the back seat and attempted to get comfy there.

"It'll be fine," Xander nodded back with a reassuring smile. "They're going to visit sooner or later, so they may as well see it now."

"Yes, but what about the…" She paused, miming growing in size for the Hulk effect.

"I'll tell her," Xander said simply. "It's Willow, we've known each other since kindergarten, we tell each other everything anyway. I'm not going to keep something like this from her, besides, Oz can already smell it on us, so he's going to tell her anyway."

"Fine," Jennifer nodded. "As long as you trust them."

"I do," Xander said simply as he got into the driver's seat of the car and started the engine again once Jennifer had got in. "Ready?" He asked, leaning backwards to check that Willow and Oz were safely sat down and comfy.

"Check," Willow nodded with a smile as the pointed to her seatbelt with Oz holding her leg.

"Off we go then," Xander smiled as he pulled back into the traffic and headed up towards where he knew Cordelia used to live, knowing full well that Willow would give him directions once they got closer.

* * *

"Thirteen," Xander read of the number on the wall of the house they drove past. "Fifteen." He grinned as he saw seventeen coming up. "Here we are, sevent… whoa." He trailed off as he turned the car into the driveway and saw the house stretched out in front of them. "Jen, are you sure."

"This is the address," Jennifer nodded as she read off the paperwork in the file Fury had left for them. "Guess he managed to buy it up cheap or something."

"Houses in Sunnydale are quite cheap," Willow explained from the back. "It's the death rate of the town, keeps people away."

"Yeah, but." Xander looked in shock at the house before them as he slowly drove up the drive. It wasn't as big as Cordelia's old place by any stretch but it was a lot bigger than anything he'd been used to. About twice the size of Buffy's place if the front of the house was any indication. "Wow, remind me to send Nick a thank you card."

"Oh he'll remember," Jennifer smirked over at him as Xander parked the car in front of the front door. "Nick doesn't forget favours, and don't think he won't collect."

"For this, he can have my first born," Xander commented idly as he turned the engine off and got out of the car. "Again, wow."

"Nice," Oz commented as Xander pushed his seat forward so they didn't have to clamber over things to get out.

"You must have some rich friends," Willow said with a smile as she got out of the car while Jen walked around to stand next to Xander.

"Some," Jennifer smiled, mentally cataloguing Reed Richards, Tony Stark and others. Not that her own net worth was anything to be sneezed at, but she was nowhere in their leagues of money. Even Bruce had more money than she did, with his patents on 'BanerTech', he was the one that had first set her up a stock portfolio in the company, which had gone from strength to strength in the last five years or so.

"Ok, grab a box," Xander grinned as he quickly leaned forwards to grab the open box that he knew had the axe and other toys inside, Jennifer nodded and grabbed the other box that Fury had left for them, without knowing what was inside it, she didn't feel comfortable leaving it for Willow to take. "So, what's behind the door." Xander grinned as he fumbled with the keys for a moment before finally being able to unlock the door.

"Scan complete." A robotic voice said as soon as the door opened, a green beam of light shooting out from above the door and passing over Xander's body quickly.

"Uh, what?" Xander asked out loud, freezing in place as the light moved up and down his body.

"Harris, A," The voice continued. "Welcome home sir."

"Sir?" Xander asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's Tony," Jennifer laughed as she stepped into the house and the green light passed over her as well. "Walters, J, welcome home ma'am."

"Why does the security alarm sound British?" Willow asked idly as she stepped forwards nervously as the green beam scanned over her body.

"Tony's sense of humour," Jennifer answered with a smirk. "He was always a bit quirky when building things like this; he named his own security system Jarvis of all things."

"Unknown female," The voice announced.

"Willow," Jennifer answered out loud for the computer. "Last name?" She asked, turning to Willow.

"Uh, Rosenberg?" Willow said loudly, looking to the ceiling where a diode could be seen where the green light was emanating from.

"Rosenberg, W, accepted." The voice continued as Willow stepped in.

Oz nodded when he saw the scan did the same to him, running quickly across his body. "Oz," He said out loud, pre-empting the computers question.

"Oz," The computer said simply as the beam vanished. "Security systems may be altered from the main console in the living room, welcome home Mr and Mrs Harris."

"Wait, we're not." Xander flustered out, staring at the ceiling.

"Don't bother," Jennifer laughed. "Either Tony or Nick, you can blame them later."

"Or I'll have a talk with this computer system," Xander muttered as his blush started to clear. "Computer to magnet, understand me?" He shouted, glaring at the only part of the security system that could be seen.

"Come on," Jennifer laughed as she walked through into what she assumed was the living room. "We can dump the boxes in here for now."

"Cool," Oz nodded as he led the way while Xander was still glaring at the diode on the ceiling.

"It's just a computer," Willow laughed as she passed him, holding one of the holdalls from the car awkwardly in two hands.

"Jumped up calculator," Xander muttered, glaring at the diode once more before walking through the same way Jennifer had led Willow and Oz.

"Wow," Willow gasped out as she walked into the living room. "Is it me, or does it smell like paint in here?"

"Solder," Oz nodded after a sniff. "Welding too."

"They, uh, must have been redecorating," Xander explained as he walked in. "Whoa," He exclaimed as he looked around, the front room was as sparsely decorated as the front room in Jennifer's condo, what mainly stood out was the fact that the couches and TV screen were the same size as Jennifer's, if anything slightly larger.

"Does anyone else feel like a Lilliput?" Willow asked in a small voice as she walked up beside one of the couches and looked at it with wide eyes.

"Ah," Xander paused as he dropped the box on the floor gently before looking around; sure enough everything he could see in the house appeared to be supersized already, even little things like the TV remote on the table were twice their normal size.

"We didn't shrink did we?" Willow asked, turning to Oz. "We didn't shrink and no one told us right?"

"Don't think so," Oz shrugged.

"You didn't shrink Wills," Xander smiled as he came over. "It's just, uh, something to help me and Jen."

"What, are you giants now? Because that would be cool, wait, you can't be giants, you're my size." Willow babbled out before she saw Xander's grin. "Hey, why are you smiling buster!" She frowned at him, putting the holdall she'd been carrying on the floor.

"Nothing," Xander grinned. "Just missed my Willow."

"This Willow wants an explanation buster," Willow said, crossing her arms and setting her resolve face. "Now, you know I'm serious."

"Jen, do you wanna." Xander asked hopefully, turning to her for help.

"Oh you're on your own here," Jennifer laughed as she jumped up onto one of the couches and stretched out, enjoying the size of them when she was normal size, even the small cushions on the couch were about as big as her torso when she was like this, it felt nice and luxurious on the black leather.

"Traitor," Xander stuck his tongue out playfully. "Ok, Wills, I don't want you to freak here or anything." Xander said slowly. "Something kinda happened in New York."

"You got all the way to New York?" Willow babbled out before she could stop herself. "Oh, did you see the Empire State Building? The twin towers? What about the…"

"Trying to explain here Willow," Xander interrupted, trying to get this over with as quickly as possible. "It's kinda this thing, caused by... uh… help me out here?"

"Gamma radiation," Jennifer helped out as she swung herself around and sat on the edge of the supersized sofa.

"Yeah, that's the stuff," Xander smiled at her in thanks. "See, I kinda did something stupid," He shook his head at Jennifer to ask her not to say anything before continuing. "And I needed a blood transfusion."

"But you can't," Willow frowned. "You have that bracelet the doctors gave you, hey, where's the bracelet?"

"Lost it years ago," Xander shrugged. "Guess it's in one of the cemeteries around town now." He frowned; he'd never actually given it much thought, seeing as he never thought he'd get out of Sunnydale anyway.

"You idiot, you need that in case of emergencies," Willow yelled at him, slapping him on the arm. "What if you'd been in an accident on something and the doctors tried to give you normal blood, it could have killed you."

"It didn't," Xander sighed. "And we really need to talk about this slapping, both of you." He smirked to both Jennifer and Willow, who both in turn glared at him.

"He got a blood transfusion, from me." Jennifer said, cutting the explanation short. "I have the same genetic abnormality as Xander, I could go into the science."

"Please don't," Xander pleaded with begging eyes. "Anyway, so Jen gave me some of her blood."

"Three pints," Jennifer sighed dramatically.

"Did they give you a cookie?" Willow perked up with the question, causing everyone to look at her in disbelief.

"Lollypop," Jennifer answered with a grin.

"Better," Willow smiled, liking this woman more and more as time moved on, the fact she'd apparently saved Xander's life had already put her in her good books.

"Anyway," Xander sighed. "Jen's blood isn't exactly normal," Xander sighed as he stepped back from the group. "Jennifer Walters, ringing any bells here?"

"Nope," Willow shook her head, smiling when Oz did the same.

"Wow, Sunnydale, good for the ego," Jennifer laughed as she hopped down off the couch and came to stand next to Xander in a show of support. "Bruce Banner?"

"The Bruce Banner?" Willow asked with wide eyes. "Owner of BannerTech? Wow, he's like a genius, you know him?"

"I'm his cousin," Jennifer nodded, waiting for Willow to piece it all together.

"Angry?" Oz asked, looking at both of them with questioning eyes.

"Hungry," Xander commented back with a grin. "But you're on the right lines."

"Ohmygod!" Willow's eyes shot open wide. "Him… the... the Hulk... you're the Hulk's cousin. that… that makes you…"

"She's got it," Xander smiled as he walked over and put his hand on Willow's shoulder. "Breathe Will's, come on."

"But… she's… she's the She-Hulk." Willow gasped out. "She doesn't just know Mister Fantastic, she worked with him. Oh my god."

"Calm down," Xander smiled, focusing on getting Willow to breathe properly again. "Anything you can do?"

"Willow, I could invite him to come and visit?" Jennifer said hopefully.

"Oh my god, really?" Willow gushed out, her hyperventilation slowly going back to normal. "There's so much I want to ask him, his work on cosmic radiation, ohh his work on nanotech regulators."

"You're missing the point here Willow," Xander sighed. "Jennifer gave me the blood transfusion." He said slowly, waiting for her to catch on.

"Yeah, she… she... I need to sit down." Willow muttered out as it caught up with her.

"There we go," Xander grinned as he helped move Willow across to one of the couches where he lifted her up onto it with Oz's help.

"Are you..." Willow trailed off as she looked at Xander.

"Big and green?" Xander nodded. "Some of the time now, if I want, Jen, would you? Just so it doesn't freak them out too much."

Jennifer nodded with a smile as she took her shirt off and unbuttoned her jeans. "What, these were new." She defended herself at Xander's questioning look.

"You couldn't have worn the costume Reed gave us?" Xander asked, not that he minded seeing Jennifer strip down to her underwear like this, but it was the principal of the matter.

"It was still wet," Jennifer smiled as she finally kicked off her shoes. "Ok, this might be." She smiled before closing her eyes and concentrating.

Willow's eyes grew wide as she watched Jennifer's skin slowly date on a darker tone, her mass physically growing in front of her as he muscles bulged out and she grew by a good two or three feet. Finally as the transformation was complete she arched her back and stretched up, now easily seven or eight feet tall, with  
a physique Wonder Woman would die for.

"Hi," Jennifer smiled across in her She-Hulk persona, quietly revelling in the fact that she'd been able to transform quicker than she'd actually intended. She'd spent far too long as Jennifer as it was for her tastes, it was nice to actually stretch out and be herself for a while now.

"Green," Oz commented off hand from where Willow was squeezing his hand.

"Oh my god, Buffy is going to be so jealous," Willow gasped out as she looked at the emerald amazon in front of her. "So that's why everything is so big here, it's for you, when you're like this!" Willow finally put it all together, looking at Jennifer as she was now, the house actually looked normal sized around her.

"Not just for her," Xander said with a grimace. "Remember," He waved his hand in the air. "I got a blood transfusion from her, so I'm."

"Green?" Oz commented with a small smile.

"I was going to go with 'bigger'," Xander smirked back. "But, yeah."

"You're… you're a Hulk as well?" Willow asked in disbelief, her eyes still wide on Jennifer's body. Even though she was dating Oz she could see that Jennifer had a body to die for like this, the sort of body supermodels would kill for.

"Asked and answered," Xander nodded slowly.

"Does... does it hurt?" Willow asked, still staring at Jennifer.

"A bit," Jennifer answered honestly. "Like your body is being stretched from the inside out, but only for a second, then it feels good, it's kind of a good pain you know?"

Willow shook her head, unable to figure out what a 'good pain' might actually be, then she turned to Xander and looked at him properly for the first time. "You're like her?"

"Yup," Xander nodded as he put his hands in his pockets and got ready for the shouting that was coming. "It's not her fault Wills, if she hadn't saved my life."

"It's your fault for losing your bracelet buster," Willow shot back, cutting off whatever Xander was about to say. "Do you grow like her then?" She asked in a small voice.

"He's a bit bigger," Jennifer laughed as she came over and sat on the couch next to Willow, dwarfing her and Oz. "And muscles to die for." She grinned as Willow blushed slightly. "You want to see?" She smiled as Willow nodded slowly.

"Aww, do I have to?" Xander said resignedly.

"You've seen me," Oz commented. "Only fair."

"Not the same," Xander commented before thinking about it. "Actually, pretty much the same, torn clothes, messy hair, only I'm green not furry."

"Teeth?" Oz asked with a raised eyebrow.

"About nine feet tall," Xander answered back with a grin.

"That works," Oz nodded.

"Go on," Jennifer laughed. "As you said, they've seen stranger. You've got a werewolf here, and you're friends with a slayer. I think they can take it."

"Not to mention I'm a Witch," Willow piped up. "I can float a mean pencil I'll have you know."

"I'll remember that," Jennifer laughed before turning back to Xander. "Before we get old hun."

"Fine," Xander pouted as he unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off. "But if this goes wrong, I'm blaming you you know."

"Yeah yeah," Jennifer waved it off. "It's like the third or fourth time now, you'll be fine."

"What does he mean?" Willow asked in a quiet voice as Xander took of his jeans to show the black and blue leather leggings style clothes he had on underneath.

"He's worried he'll turn into the Hulk like Bruce," Jennifer said sadly while watching Xander. "He doesn't want to hurt anyone."

"That's Xander," Willow shared a small smile with her. "Could that really happen though?" She asked when she realised exactly what Xander was worrying about, the news footage of the Hulk's rampage running through her mind.

"I don't think so," Jennifer shook her head. "Xander's shown enough restraint to hold himself in check, I don't think he could ever turn into the beast like Bruce does."

"Good," Willow nodded with a small smile. "'Cause Sunnydale, not exactly equipped to stop a Hulk."

"I noticed," Jennifer sighed. "What is it, like the town Starbucks forgot?"

"Ok, I'm ready," Xander sighed as he stood in the middle of the room. "But if anything happens..."

"I'll be here," Jennifer smiled at him. "You'll be fine, you'll have to get used to doing this on your own at some point. If you don't, and you get angry." She trailed off, letting Xander's own memory of what happened at the truck stop fill in the rest for him.

"Just. yeah, fine." He trailed off from the old argument. "Ok, here goes." He sighed before closing his eyes, focusing on the memory that had worked for him before.

"Does he…" Willow trailed off as she watched Xander's skin take on the same hue that Jennifer's had, his body collapsing to the floor in a crouch form as the muscles on his back and arm bulged out and stretched to previously undreamt of levels. "He's... he…" Willow just watched as Xander finally stretched upwards, letting out a quiet roar as he stretched his back and arms, showing the muscles now that were bigger than Oz's torso. "Holy Hannah." Willow trailed off as Xander shook his head once the transformation was complete.

"Big," Oz commented as he watched the transformation finish. "Very, big."

"Still fuzzy?" Jennifer asked as Xander continued to rub his head. "It's the transformation; he's kind of like Bruce, but not quite." She paused as she tried to explain, leaving Xander to clear his head on his own. "See, Bruce isn't like me; he loses all of his brain when he goes like this, like complete shutdown."

"And Xander?" Willow asked in a small voice as she looked on at the green giant that was her best friend.

"Sort of half way," Jennifer shrugged. "He's not as sharp as he normally is, not at first anyway. The longer he stays like this, the more of his old personality and brains show through."

"Fuzzy head," Xander said slowly, tapping the side of his giant head with a finger that was roughly the size of Willow's hand.

"Are you ok?" Willow asked softly, jumping down from the couch and slowly walking over to him. "Did it hurt?"

"Bit," Xander nodded as he crouched down so he was on the same level as his oldest friend. "Good now." He frowned shaking his head. "I'm good now." He repeated. "Like drunk, fuzzy."

"He's drunk?" Willow asked, spinning around to Jennifer. "You got a Hulk drunk, what if he..."

"He's not drunk," Jennifer laughed. "Xander says it's like being drunk, he doesn't have any of his old inhibitions and it's hard to think for him, he gets better though, give him an hour or so and he'll be his normal self in there  
again."

"You're still Xander?" Willow asked, turning back to look at Xander's giant face.

"Yellow crayon," Xander grinned down at her before she rushed forward and hugged him around the chest, her arms barely reaching across his giant muscles now but the hug was worth it all the same. "Love you too." He said, reaching around and holding her there with old arm as he stood up.

"Very big," Oz commented as Xander stood up, holding Willow against his chest for a perfect size comparison, her legs dangled down above his knees, a clear three feet off the floor.

"Still Xander shaped," Xander said slowly as he bent one knee out for Willow to stand on so she didn't fall to the ground when he let go.

"You are," Willow smiled. "Oh my god, Buffy is so going to freak when she sees this," Willow giggled out as she looked at Xander's giant form and realised she was actually standing on his thigh. "And Giles, I bet he goes all British and says 'my word' a lot."

"Sucker bet," Xander grinned as Willow jumped off his leg to the floor.

"Wow, the house was really made for you two," Willow smiled as she looked around, realising at this size, everything in the house looked normal compared to Jennifer and Xander.

"A friend did some work on it for us," Jennifer nodded as Willow continued to look around the house, every so often flicking a glance back to Xander for a size comparison. "He built my old place, so I guess this place is just as sturdy."

"Welding," Oz said with a nod. "Explains the smell."

"Probably," Jennifer nodded. "It's not as if you can buy couches like this in stores, everything here had to be specially made to withstand our weight when we're like this."

"It's a Buffy proof house," Willow giggled. "Even she couldn't break this I'll bet."

"I'd hope not," Jennifer nodded as Willow's eyes widened. "Yes, I know about the Slayer, don't worry, I can keep a secret."

"We should call her, get her over." Willow grinned. "She is going to freak when she sees this."

"No slaying Xander," Xander said emphatically, shaking his head slowly. "Not demon, Hulk."

"I'm sure she wouldn't slay you," Willow said reassuringly with a smile as she came back over, glancing at the large flat screen TV on the wall. "Stark technology, you have Starktech, oh my god."

"Tony," Jennifer laughed. "It's probably an upgrade from the last one he gave me, that was his security system as well by the way."

"Tony?" Oz commented with a raised eyebrow.

"You know Tony Stark?" Willow gushed out, rushing back over to Jennifer. "He's like rich, mega rich, rich to the tenth power. And a genius, his computers are what NASA dream of having."

"And his goatee tickles," Jennifer laughed, causing Willow to blush wildly. "I used to date him, like five years ago. Before he got into his badboy phase."

"Wow," Willow breathed out. "Do you like know everyone, Reed Richards, Tony Stark."

"I've dated my share," Jennifer laughed at Willow's questioning look. "Not Reed, he's so in love with Sue it's sickening."

"Can we… uh… unpack?" Xander asked slowly, focusing a bit more on the words.

"Sure," Jennifer smiled as she stood up from the couch. "Think the holdalls are all for the bedroom, would you mind?" She asked, turning to Willow.

"Sure," Willow smiled helpfully, grabbing the holdall she'd carried in before Jennifer grabbed the other two and held them in one hand easily before making her way to the stairs. "We'll let you two take care of down here."

"Ok," Xander nodded with a smile as he watched Jennifer and Willow walk up the stairs.

"Cool house," Oz nodded.

"Yeah," Xander nodded back. "Are you, ok with this I guess?" Xander asked slowly, looking at Oz carefully for any sign of reaction.

"No harm," Oz shrugged. "Wolf here, Hulk there, not a problem."

"Cool," Xander grinned. "So, uh, boxes."

"Show me where," Oz nodded as he grabbed one of the boxes before Xander easily lifted the other with one hand, shortly before the bottom of the box gave way, spilling the contents all over the floor.

"Damnit." Xander roared out, throwing the torn box clear across the room and into the open plan kitchen.

"It's cool," Oz commented, "We can unpack from here."

"Sorry," Xander said slowly, ducking down to sit on the floor. "Hard, to keep calm like this."

"I get it," Oz nodded. "Axe?" He asked, in an apparent non-sequitur before nodding to the large axe blade amongst the pile.

"Present," Xander said, grabbing the axe blade carefully. "Sharp, very sharp."

"Gotcha," Oz nodded. "Buffy?"

"My toy." Xander grinned over. "Xander size."

"Big axe," Oz smiled before rummaging in the pile again. "Stake belt?" He asked, eying the leather belt with various silver stakes clipped in it.

"Not mine," Xander shrugged. "Not wood either."

"Really big nails?" Oz shrugged before placing the belt in a separate pile.

"Could work," Xander nodded before the TV started beeping on the wall.

"TV's beeping," Oz commented as he stood up and looked at the giant sized plasma screen.

"Teevo?" Xander shrugged before standing up and pressing his hand on the screen as he'd seen Jennifer do. "Uh, hi?" Xander said as the screen flicked into life showing Nick Fury sat in a comfortable chair with cigar in hand.

"Harris," Fury nodded. "And Oz I take it?"

"How'd you." Xander frowned at the video link.  
"Security system readout," Fury explained offhand. "The place alright for you two?"

"It's huge," Xander said with a smile. "I owe you."

"I'll remember that," Fury smiled around the cigar. "Is Jennifer there, have some things she'd like to know about."

"Upstairs, unpacking," Xander shrugged.

"I'll call back then," Fury frowned. "I see you got the boxes I left. A few presents in there to help out. Should be everything you need."

"Yeah, thanks," Xander nodded. "Is there… uh… some reason for the stuff, the axe and clothes, cool but."

"I take it you're still adjusting to the change," Fury sighed. "I thought that might be the case, I also know you were worried about losing control like that."

"It's a worry," Xander nodded slowly.

"Downstairs there's a cage, Reed originally built it to hold the Hulk, but we never got chance to test it," Fury explained. "I had it moved there in case anything happens, it should be enough to hold you if the worst happens."

"Did you plan for everything?" Xander asked slowly, but mentally thanking him for actually considering the worst case scenario.

"Most," Fury nodded. "It's made of the same metal your axe is, so it should be able to hold you if you lose control again."

"Good to know," Xander nodded, mentally adding that it would also be a useful place for Oz during his furry nights, a quick glance told him Oz was thinking the same thing.

"Tell Jennifer to call me, we've had reports of a mutant up in Canada causing problems at some of the trucker hangouts. Lumberjack by the looks of things, but the reports are sketchy." Fury nodded before abruptly turning the video link off, returning the screen blank.

"Friend?" Oz asked with a raised eyebrow.

"One of Jen's, I think," Xander nodded. "Basement?"

"Cool," Oz shrugged as he let Xander lead the way through into the kitchen. "Big mug." Oz commented as they passed through and he noticed the supersize mug on the counter.

"Lots of coffee," Xander grinned as he noticed the door leading off the kitchen to downstairs. "Cool, pool."

"Pool party," Oz nodded with a smile. "Could get the band."

"Moving in party," Xander grinned. "I approve." He nodded as they started down the stairs to the basement.

* * *

"I'm an emotional girl, I can't help myself." Jennifer sung out loud as she danced around the bedroom, throwing clothes into various draws and into the bottom of the wardrobe. "Sometimes I laugh, Sometimes I cry."

"You're crazy, you know that," Willow laughed as she helped unpacking the holdalls onto the bed where Jennifer took the clothes from to find homes for.

"Always," Jennifer laughed as she danced over. "It's fun, nothing like cutting loose for a bit and dancing around, letting yourself go. You should try it sometime."

"It must be easy for you," Willow sighed, her eyes widening at a particularly racy piece of lingerie she pulled out of the holdall. "I could never do that, or wear that."

"Ohh, you think Xander will like it?" Jennifer grinned as she took the tight purple body stocking and held it up against her body. "You'd be surprised Willow, anyone can be free, have fun, it's just finding the right attitude to life."

"But you're... you're so big, and strong, and your body… wow." Willow blushed a bit at what she'd just said before returning to unpacking. "It must just be so easy for you to do anything you want."

"You'd be surprised," Jennifer sighed as she came over and sat on the giant bed next to Willow. "It's not all fun and games you know, you don't see how people look at me, like I'm something lower than human. They're fine if I'm saving their lives, or someone to sleep with, but passing me in the street? I've seen people actually cross the road rather than walk next to me."

"What, why?" Willow asked in disbelief, unable to believe that anyone could be that shallow or hurtful.

"Because I'm different," Jennifer sighed. "They think I'm like some sort of dangerous mutant or something, that senator, not Kinsey. Kelly, he's just making things worse for people like me and Xander, I'm just sorry he got pulled into all of this."

"But you're not," Willow said quickly. "A dangerous mutant I mean, you're nothing like the ones shown on TV or anything."

"The TV can be misleading," Jennifer said sadly. "They only show you what they want you to see, the violent mutants, the ones that cause damage or hurt people. There are thousands of mutants out there, just trying to live their lives, away from the racist bigots out there. And they just get shunned and hunted down like all the others."

"But.,, it's not their fault, they didn't chose to be mutants, it's not like they can stop or anything." Willow trailed off, feeling sad for Xander and Jennifer now.

"No, but it's who they are, just like this is who I am. I bet some people hate Oz just for being a werewolf, it's the same with mutants. Not all mutants are bad Willow, some of the best people I know have special powers or curses." Jennifer smiled over. "Take Buffy, she's special right, can do things normal humans can't?"

"Well, yeah, but she's the Slayer." Willow defended her friend.

"And how is that any different from a mutant with extra strength or speed?" Jennifer asked with a smile. "If people knew what Buffy could do, they'd think she was a mutant as well, would probably shun her like they do anyone else that's different."

"But… that's… that stupid." Willow said angrily.

"It's how the world is," Jennifer shrugged. "It's not getting any better either, if anything I think it's actually getting worse." She sighed, standing up and throwing the rest of the holdalls into the wardrobe before closing the door. "I'm thankful that me and Xander can pass for normal, some others don't have that luxury." She frowned, mentally thinking of Ben back in New York.

"I don't see you like that," Willow said with a small smile.

"I know," Jennifer laughed, pulling Willow into a tight hug. "It just makes me sad sometimes, that's all."

"Ok," Willow squeaked out as Jennifer continued to hug her, pressing her petite body into her large green breasts.

"It's good to know Xander has friends like you," Jennifer smiled, releasing Willow from the hug. "He's a good man."

"One of the best," Willow said with a smile, still slightly flushed from being pressed that close to Jennifer's breasts, even if they were enclosed in a tight black bra. "He seems happy with you."

"Oh I hope so," Jennifer laughed wildly as a new song came on the radio. "Come on, dance with me." She grinned, standing up and pulling Willow off the bed as well.

"I don't…" Willow frowned as Jennifer pulled her in close and started to twirl around the room, Willow's feet dangling off the floor as she span.

"Oh, sorry," Jennifer said abruptly, stopping the dance before slowly lowering Willow to the floor. "I didn't hurt you did I, it's just, the past few days, I've been so used to being around Xander, I didn't think."

"It's fine, really," Willow smiled up to the green amazon. "I'm just, not really a dancy person."

"You should call Buffy," Jennifer smiled. "We can order pizza, have a girls night of it while Xander and Oz do their male thing."

"I don't know," Willow shuffled on her feet. "Xander and Oz, they don't really talk much, or didn't before."

"So, what, Xander was just one of the girls?" Jennifer laughed. "Because I'm telling you, so not the case." She laughed more as Willow blushed. "Come on, it'll be fun. I'm dying to meet this Buffy, Xander's told me so much about her adventures."

"I suppose," Willow relented. "It would be good to get everyone together before college starts again. Oh, could Giles come, I haven't seen him in weeks, ever since he lost his job at the school he's been kind of down."

"Giles?" Jennifer nodded. "The librarian right? Xander mentioned him a few times, said he thinks of him as some sort of father figure."

"Yeah," Willow nodded. "Giles is cool, he's been helping us since forever."

"Call him then," Jennifer nodded to the flat screen TV on the wall that was currently playing music videos. "Off," she said loudly. "Phone." She said again, causing the TV to switch from music videos to a standard grid layout with numbers on it. "Just dial as you would normally."

"Are you sure?" Willow asked hesitantly before she made her way over to the Stark television screen when Jennifer nodded at her. "This is so cool, this TV must have cost a fortune."

"No idea," Jennifer shrugged. "Knowing Tony, he's probably got piles of these in his house that he doesn't know what to do with." She laughed at Willow's wide eyes before she went back to unpacking to let Willow get on with her phone call.

* * *

"Nice," Oz commented as they walked into the basement. "Could work." He nodded at the large cage that took up half of the basement area, while the other half was taken up by various gym and sparring equipment, in a mix of normal and supersize.

"I'll say," Xander nodded as he pressed at one of the bars experimentally, leaning more of his weight on it when it refused to budge under his muscles. "Don't think anything could get out of this."

"Good to know," Oz nodded at the large cage, it had a large metal bed inside with various pillows thrown around for comfort, on the other side of the room was a large metal locker with a combination lock on the front, otherwise is was pretty sparse with lots of room to pace. "Would you mind?"

"Any time you need," Xander nodded slowly, knowing what Oz was thinking.

"Bigger than the crypt," Oz smiled. "Warmer too."

"And secure enough to hold a hulk," Xander grinned. "Make sure you don't get out."

"That too," Oz nodded thoughtfully, he'd always been worried about what would happen if he actually broke out of the cage they'd built in the crypt to hold him over the summer holidays. They'd managed to make it from scrap found in various places and metal they'd salvaged from the ruins of the high school, while Buffy had tested it with her strength to make sure it was secure, it was nowhere close to the cage that was in front of them now.

"Think Buffy will like it here?" Xander asked, throwing a soft punch towards one of the giant punch bags that was suspended from the ceiling.

"Do you want her to leave?" Oz shrugged with a small smile.

"Xander?" A voice called from upstairs, calling both of their attention to the thick metal steps leading up to the kitchen area.

"Down here," Xander called out, waiting for a moment until he saw Jennifer and Willow walking down the stairs. "Hey."

"A cage?" Jennifer smirked as she reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around. "Kinky." She grinned over at Xander.

"Fury called," Xander nodded with a slight blush. "He said he'd call back, something about a mutant in Canada, and lumberjacks."

"Ok," Jennifer nodded, having got used to cryptic messages from Nick Fury over the years. "Nice gym area."

"Yeah," Xander grinned. "Cage should hold me, or Oz."

"Ohh, wow, I was just thinking that." Willow blurted out from where she'd been staring at the cage.

"Already asked," Oz nodded with a smile.

"He's free to use it anytime," Xander said slowly with a smile. "Werewolf, don't want him getting out." He explained to Jennifer.

"I get it," Jennifer smiled. "No sex games though, until me and Xander try them first." She grinned as Willow and Xander blushed at the same time.

"You two have fun?" Xander asked as he idly walked around the room, picking up random weights to test them.

"There's like three bedrooms up there," Willow gushed out with a grin. "And the bathroom, the bathtub is like a Jacuzzi size."

"Really?" Xander's ears perked up at this. "Shower?"

"Walk in," Jennifer smiled. "Four heads, can't wait to try it out."

"Sounds like heaven," Xander smiled. "Good to know there's crash space if people come to stay though."

"Oh, I called Buffy and Giles, they're on their way over." Willow smiled. "We can have a moving in get-together."

"Girls night upstairs," Jennifer grinned. "Can't tell you how long it's been since I had an actual girly night in, the last was Sue's hen night, and wow, was that a disaster."

"Hen night?" Xander asked with raised eyebrows.

"Privileged information," Jennifer laughed. "You're not a girl, so." She trailed off with a smile.

"Spoilsport," Xander pouted back as the TV at the far end of the room flickered into life. "What, does he have one of these in every room?" Xander muttered as he walked over to see what the TV was showing him.

"There is someone at the door," The TV announced in a clipped British voice, displaying the image of Buffy and Giles stood on the doorstep.

"Buffy!" Willow grinned out as she walked over. "I'll go." She smiled before darting back to the stairs and up to the main level.

"Did you let her have coffee again?" Xander asked, turning to Oz with a worried glance.

"Nope," Oz shrugged simply before walking up the stairs to follow his redheaded girlfriend.

* * *

"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed as she opened the door to see her friend and Giles stood there.

"Willow, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked, stepping forward to hug her friend. "Who's house is this?"

"Xander's," Willow grinned. "Hey Giles."

"Willow," Giles nodded with a small smile. "You say this is Xander's new house?"

"Yup, cool isn't it?" Willow grinned as she moved backwards and let Buffy walk in, forgetting about the security sensor that immediately swept over her body.

"Summers, B, Slayer." The computer announced after running its green beam over her body.

"Who said that?" Buffy asked, looking around.

"The computer," Willow grinned. "It's a Stark security system, neat huh?"

"A whatsit now?" Buffy asked as the green beam vanished as she stepped into the main house.

"Stark, as in Tony Stark?" Giles asked as he moved to let the green beam shine over him like it had done for Buffy. "May I ask, how did it know Buffy's name?"

"You can blame Nick for that,"

Buffy and Giles span around to see who had spoken in time to see a giant green woman wearing only her underwear walk over next to Oz.

"Demon!" Buffy screamed out, immediately jumping forward and throwing a punch towards Jennifer.

"What, no!" Jennifer shouted as she blocked the punch easily and stepped back. "Not a demon," she stepped back further as Buffy continued to approach.

"Buffy, stop." Xander's voice came through loud and clear as he stepped out from the kitchen, Buffy to go wide-eyed at the sight. He was nearly twice as tall as she was, built like professional body builders dream of looking like, and bright green.

"Wha… wha…" Buffy mumbled out, stumbling backwards from the giant green Hulk that was walking forwards.

"Buffy, it's me, Xander." Xander said slowly, holding his hands up in surrender. "I was going to try and break this to you slowly, but…"

"Demon?" Buffy asked in a small voice, looking at the two green giants.

"She's the She-Hulk Buffy," Willow said quickly, coming to stand by her friend. "Remember, she was on the news last year, we spent the night arguing about who was stronger, you or her."

"She-Hulk." Buffy said in a small voice, looking at the green amazon who towered over her. "Really?"

"Really," Jennifer laughed. "I'm not here to fight or anything, unless you want to spar sometime that is."

"Spar." Buffy repeated in disbelief. "Giles, am I dreaming now?"

"I do hope not," Giles muttered as he walked into the living room, taking his glasses off and polishing them thoroughly. "Though if that is the case, I request you commit me to a mental asylum upon waking, as I appear to be dreaming of a topless Xander as well."

"You're not dreaming Buff," Xander grinned as he walked forwards, crouching down so Buffy could see his face properly. "See, just me."

"But… you're so big." Buffy stammered out, looking at the sheer size of him, when he was stood up she barely came upto his stomach. "That is so unfair!"

"Still Buffy," Xander grinned. "Hey G-man, how you been?"

"Good, thank you," Giles answered without thinking. "And how many times have I asked you not to call me that?"

"Once more?" Xander grinned unrepentantly.

"I feel like a dwarf," Buffy pouted, finally looking around her surroundings.

"It's cool isn't it," Willow grinned, jumping up onto one of the couches and spreading out. "Everything's supersized, or hulk-sized I guess."

"My lord Xander," Giles muttered as he finally walked over to get a better look at Xander's new form. "What happened to you?"

"It's a long story Giles," Xander sighed as he sat down on the floor with a thud.

"The short version, if you would be so kind," Giles said idly as he marvelled at the size of Xander's new muscles and hands.

"Got a shot of blood, ended up a hulk," Xander grinned as Giles simply stared at him. "You want more?"

"He had to have a blood transfusion, I was the only candidate they could reach," Jennifer supplied a slightly more in depth answer. "Jennifer Walters." She said by introduction, walking over and offering her hand for Giles to shake. "I've heard a lot about you from Xander."

"Yes, well," Giles smiled softly, taking the offered hand and shaking it lightly as it engulfed his own.

"You should see downstairs Buffy, there's a cage, and gym weights, and punching bags. oh, and she knows Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic you know, and used to date Tony Stark, and there's Stark technology all over the house it's like."

"Breathe Wills," Xander grinned from across the room as Buffy was still staring at him with wide eyes.

"You're... you're a Hulk now, like, the Incredible Hulk on the news?" Buffy asked in a small voice as Xander stood up again and towered over her.

"Hulk smash!" Xander smirked in quite a convincing impression.

"I beg of you, don't do that again," Giles said quickly, backing up to where Willow and Oz were sat on the giant couch.

"Sorry Giles, was just kidding," Xander apologised as he sat back down on the floor.

"Yes, well, your new form, it was quite, a shock shall we say, rather intimidating." Giles explained as he continued to clean his glassed nervously.

"Is this really you?" Buffy asked in a small voice as she ventured slowly forwards to stand next to Xander.

"Really me Buffster," Xander nodded with a small smile. "Still Xander shaped, just a bit bigger now."

"Really really?" Buffy said with wide eyes when she caught a good look at Xander's biceps in his new form.

"Really," Xander grinned. "Wanna arm wrestle?" He laughed as he pushed his right arm forwards next to Buffy, who just looked at it in awe, his forearm was bigger than her own torso now, and bulging with powerful muscles that looked like they could squish her like a bug.

"I think we should leave that for now," Giles frowned as he put his glasses back on and blinked a few times at the sight of Buffy stood next to the now giant, green Xander. "I must confess, this is astounding. Why, I've seen the news reports of course, but never in my wildest." He trailed off, realising he was now staring at Jennifer who was still wearing only her underwear. "I do apologise Miss, I didn't think."

"It's fine," Jennifer smiled. "I should get dressed anyway. You all catch up, I'll be down in a minute." She said before making her way upstairs to the bedroom again.

"My lord Xander," Giles exclaimed once Jennifer had reached the top of the stairs. "I… I don't know what to say."

"Chalk one for the history books," Xander grinned as he stood up again in the most non-threatening manner he could manage. "I can change back, if it you know, makes you uncomfortable or anything."

"You can be Xander shaped again?" Buffy asked, looking up at Xander's hulking form in awe.

"Yup," Xander nodded. "Takes a bit of practice, but I'm getting there. It's just, easier I guess in this form, with everything so big around here."

"It's so unfair," Buffy pouted, looking around the room. "I already feel short, here I feel like a midget."

"You should see the beds," Willow grinned, bouncing on the giant couch. "They could fit all of us in one bed, giant duvets and everything."

"Really?" Buffy asked, a bit of excitement showing through her eyes at that idea.

"You said something about a gym I believe?" Giles asked, interrupting Willow's train of thought.

"Oh yeah, down here," Xander grinned, moving through towards the kitchen. "Pools out there as well, pretty cool if I do say so myself."

"My lord," Giles muttered as they all followed Xander through into the kitchen, it was surreal being surrounded by everyday objects that were easily twice the size they should normally be.

"Pool?" Buffy grinned in excitement. "Why didn't you tell me, I don't have a costume with me."

"I hear skinnydipping is coming back," Xander grinned and wiggled his eyebrows back at her as he opened the door to the basement and flicked on the light.

"As if," Buffy shot back but smiled nonetheless, if anything else, that proved to her that it was still Xander in the hulking body in front of her.

"Come on, you'll love this." Xander smiled as he walked down the stairs, every so often glancing back to see the group following him.

"Oh my god!" Buffy exclaimed as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Where did you get all this stuff?"

"Jen's friend sorted it," Xander smiled as he looked around the gym area. "Don't ask me how or where, or what it's made of, because I don't want to know."

"Are these real measurements?" Giles asked, as he looked carefully at one of the weights on the giant sized bench.

"Twenty five tons," Xander read off. "Yup, sounds like one of Jen's warm up exercises."

"Warm up?" Giles exclaimed. "Xander, how much can you now lift, in this form I mean, I take it the strength doesn't carry back with you when you change back?"

"Nope, just me like that," Xander nodded as he picked up the dumbbell with relative ease and pushed it above his head. "Jen had me lifting sixty five tons I think, but that was a bit of a strain, she thinks I could do seventy though."

"Seventy tons?" Willow asked with wide eyes at the show of strength Xander was putting on.

"Can I?" Buffy was bouncing around, staring at all the new equipment.

"Be my guess Buff," Xander nodded as she got onto a leg press bench and stared at the amount of weight on the pulley.

"Ten tons?" She asked, turning to Giles. "What's that in real weight?"

"Well, one ton would roughly convert to two thousand pounds, American system I believe," Giles explained easily. "So that weight would be twenty thousand pounds."

"Huh," Buffy frowned as she pushed on the lever with her legs, barely shifting it at all. "Hnh!" She grunted as she pressed harder, using her arms as leverage on the back of the bench.

"Buffy, do be careful," Giles said softly. "That is approximately the weight of two large elephants you are trying to lift there."

"But Giles." Buffy whined, looking at the weight Xander had just been lifting with apparent ease.

"Here," Xander smiled as he reached over and adjusted the pin down to cover the three ton mark. "Try that one." He smiled as Buffy glared at him.

"It's not funny," Buffy pouted before she pushed on the weights again, this time managing to move them about a foot before lowering them back down. "How much is that?" She asked, breathing heavily.

"Three tons," Xander nodded with a smile. "You ok?"

"It's heavy," Buffy frowned, glaring down at the offending weights. "I could barely lift it."

"It's ok Buff, try again," He smiled, pulling another few of the weights free and leaving it at the one ton mark.

"Soo not fair," Buffy pouted up at him as she braced herself on the weights once more, pushing it up with her legs. "Ok, that's alright I guess." She frowned, lowering the weight bar slowly down before pushing it up again. "Is this like a workout for you?" Buffy asked, turning as she saw Jennifer walk down the stairs wearing a leotard that looked the same as the pants Xander was wearing.

"What's she lifting?" Jennifer asked offhand as she moved next to Giles and Willow.

"One ton," Xander smiled over, trying to put a warning into his eyes not to say anything.

"Bit more than your average vampire then," Jennifer said diplomatically. "I knew a hunter over a Detroit last year, a Dhampir, he wouldn't be able to lift that."

"It's a lot?" Buffy asked as she pushed the weights around more, actually enjoying the feeling of getting a good workout for once.

"About a car," Jennifer said off hand. "Give or take I guess."

"Wow," Willow breathed out while Oz and Giles looked suitably impressed by this. "You're lifting a car Buffy, with your legs."

"Cool huh?" Buffy grinned as she continued to press the weights up, beads of sweat slowly forming on her brow.

"Very cool," Xander grinned down. "I knew you were strong, but bench pressing a car, that's like Superman level strong."

"Could I?" Buffy asked, stopping the weights and turning to Giles. "Lift a car?"

"Well, there has certainly never been any recorded evidence of a slayer ever having to lift an entire automobile," Giles explained, a bit flustered at the strength being shown here. "Though the Watchers Council has never before bothered actually investing in testing what a Slayers upper limit is, it might be far beyond what you are currently training at."

"What, I could get stronger?" Buffy asked in awe. "Supergirl watch out." She grinned as she hopped off the weights bench.

"Well, yes, obviously." Giles nodded, cleaning his glasses again with a piece of cloth from his pocket. "With the correct training, and equipment to use of course."

"Xander... can I…" Buffy trailed off in excitement as she turned back to look at Xander's hulking form.

"Anytime you want Buff," Xander grinned with a nod. "As long as it's cool with Jen that is, I mean, this is really her stuff ya know?"

"Can I?" Buffy asked, turning to face Jennifer with pleading eyes.

"Of course," Jennifer smiled over. "It would be nice to have someone to work out with for a change.

"This place is amazing," Willow breathed out as Buffy walked over to a punch bag that was taller that she was and started punching and kicking it. "It's like a slayers playground or something."

"Yes, indeed," Giles nodded with a small smile. "I will be good for Buffy to have someone to train and spar against I believe. Someone on her strength level I mean of course."

"Of course," Jennifer smirked over. "So, pizza?" She offered with a smile.

"Pool party," Xander grinned. "Pizza, party then patrol, whatdya think Buff, upto a few Hulks coming along on patrol with you?" He grinned as Buffy's eyes went wide at the thought of what those giant arms and fists could do to vampires.

"Vamps best get out of Sunnydale," Buffy grinned. "It's gonna become a demon free zone."

"Oh yeah," Xander nodded with a huge smile. "You shoulda seen Jen with this vamp in LA, she threw it like twenty feet in the air with one hand."

"Seriously?" Buffy asked with wide eyes, looking at the green amazon in amazement.

"Yeah, was so cool," Xander laughed. "I can pick up vamps with ease now, and not like that," He frowned over to Willow who was about to make a comment on his dating habits. "Been wondering how far I can throw one."

"An experiment for another time I believe," Giles sighed. "Though I must ask, the cage?"

"Nick had it shipped here," Xander said by way of explanation. "In case I… you know."

"Xander, I told you to stop worrying about that, you're not like Bruce," Jennifer sighed as she moved over and draped her arms around Xander's giant body.

"Just in case though," Xander nodded slowly. "If I ever do, promise me you'll lock me in there until I calm down."

"I promise," Jennifer smiled. "I'll lock myself in there with you if it comes to it. Pound some sense into you."

"Are... are you two always this big?" Buffy asked, coming over to stand next to Jennifer and frowning when she only came upto the bottom of her breasts. "'Cause it's a bit unfair you know, being so tall all the time."

"It's not so bad Buff," Xander grinned, reaching down with both hands and easily picking Buffy up to his level. "See, just the same from up here."

"Xander!" Buffy shrieked out as she dangled in the air. "Put me down!"

"Fine," Xander pouted as he slowly lowered her to the ground. "It's just the same, only bigger."

"I see that," Buffy grinned as she poked him in the abs. "Hulking out seems to agree with you."

"It's good," Xander nodded. "But kinda glad I'm not stuck like it all the time, that would suck majorly."

"I prefer it," Jennifer added with a smile. "The freedom, the confidence, it's liberating."

"Not me," Xander said as he closed his eyes, concentrating on calming his breathing down and focusing on changing back into his other form.

Buffy just stood there with her eyes wide, unable to believe what she was seeing as Xander's muscles slowly sank back into his body, his skin losing its hue as it went. In barely any time he was back to the Xander she knew and remembered. "Xander?" She asked slowly as he opened his eyes to show the dark brown eyes she  
knew from her friend.

"In the flesh," Xander grinned over. "See, still me Buff."

"Good lord," Giles exclaimed, having seen the transformation before his eyes, because if he'd been told about it he never would have believed it.

"See, it's all good," Xander smiled as he turned around. "Just me, no tricks."

"Oh my god, Xander!" Buffy laughed, hugging him tightly. "That other you is just scary though, you're huge like that." She laughed as Jennifer shared a smirk with Xander. "Can you do that too?" She asked, turning to Jennifer this time.

"Yeah," Willow piped up. "She's beautiful, brown hair, glasses, like a female Giles, but younger."

"Thank you for the comparison," Giles said wryly with a smile. "Though I believe it would be somewhat different I believe."

"I'll show you sometime," Jennifer nodded with a smile. "Come on, I think I've got swimming costumes upstairs that should fit you all."

"Really?" Buffy's eyes widened a bit at the idea of a relaxing evening around a pool. "They're not all green right?"

"Mostly purple actually," Jennifer laughed as she moved to go upstairs. "Why don't you both come up, see what you like."

"Sure," Buffy grinned as she walked over. "Come on Willow, it'll be fun."

"Fine," Willow smiled with a nod. "But I'm not getting wet." She warned as she followed Buffy and Jennifer up the stairs.

"I must say Xander, this is truly a remarkable turn of events," Giles said softly as he walked over with Oz. "You say a blood transfusion caused this effect in you?"

"Yeah," Xander nodded slowly. "I've always had funky blood, some genetic abnormality, guess it mixed with that somehow."

"An astounding change," Giles commented, mentally comparing the two forms in his mind's eye. "I must wonder where the extra mass comes from, or is it pure growth on your body's part?"

"No clue," Xander shrugged honestly. "The first time I changed, I was unconscious for it, and pretty freaked out when I came to. I mean, waking up a giant with green skin, I thought I was hallucinating or something."

"I can well imagine," Giles nodded in agreement. "You intend to use this strength, to help Buffy I mean."

"Sure," Xander nodded with a smile. "I'm one of the big guys now Giles, it's not like I can stop doing it, and I'm not going to stop patrolling if I could help."

"Of course not," Giles shook his head. "I just wonder, you say the blood transformed you like this, it makes me wonder if it would have a similar effect if a vampire were to ingest some of your blood now."

"Whoa, didn't think of that," Xander frowned as he sat down on the weights bench. "Could that happen, I mean, a vampire hulk?"

"I have no idea," Giles answered, thinking about the question deeply. "Or if a vampire could turn you, or even pierce your skin in that state. There are just so many variables to consider, it might be wise to consult Miss Walters on the matter, as she claims to have dealt with a dhampir before."

"Yeah, what's that anyway?" Xander asked thoughtfully. "Some sort of Transylvanian vamp or something?"

"Hardly," Giles answered with a soft glare at the teen. "It's a being of mixed race, typically vampire and human. There are legends on dhampir hunters, but these have never been confirmed."

"Guess Jen just confirmed it for you then," Xander grinned as he made his way to the stairs. "Come on, we'll see what we've got in the kitchen before ordering pizza. Never know, might actually be some tea in there."

"One can hope," Giles sighed as he followed Xander and Oz up the stairs to the kitchen, his thoughts constantly on the worrying idea of a vampire hulk and what that would actually mean for Sunnydale.

* * *

"Must you do that," Giles grumbled from the side of the pool where he was quite happily just sat on one of the loungers out of the way of everything else.

"Yup," Xander grinned as he resurfaced on the pool from his dive bomb that had splashed water everywhere. "It's the law, has to be done G-man."

The pizza had gone down a treat with them all, and now while Jennifer and Giles relaxed in the sun, Xander along with Buffy, Willow and Oz were quite happily enjoying the pool to unwind.

"Even I don't know where they get all that energy from," Jennifer smiled over from her sun lounger, she was still in her Hulk form and enjoying the sun as much as she could, knowing any damage would be repaired by her healing factor as soon as it was caused.

"Indeed," Giles frowned as he relaxed back as well, now wearing comfortable jeans and a t-shirt while his jumper and jacket were neatly folded in the kitchen. "I must confess, it is nice to see them all together again once more though."

"Yup, the whole gangs here," Buffy piped up from the side of the pool where she was comfortably lounging around in one of Jennifer's purple bikinis. "Just like old times, but with a pool, and a She-Hulk." She added absentmindedly.

"You two not coming in?" Xander asked as he shook the water from his hair, he was just enjoying the time being with his closest friends. They weren't judging him or how he was now, and that had been his greatest fear, how Buffy or Willow would have reacted to him.

"I'm good here," Jennifer called off. "If you think I'm getting this costume wet, you've got another think coming." She smirked over, nodding down to the tight white one piece costume she was wearing to sunbathe in.

"Spoilsport," Xander poked his tongue over, he'd even managed to actually convince Willow to join them in the pool, she was wearing a dark green one piece swimsuit, much like Jennifer's and seemed to be enjoying Oz's affections on the other side of the pool.

"We should get a bucket," Buffy grinned as she pointed them out.

"Ice water," Xander grinned back.

They'd been relaxing in the pool for about an hour now, the automatic lights around the pool had come on a while back when the sky started to darken, lighting up the area in a soft blue light. There was still enough sun in the sky to relax in its warmth, but dusk was rapidly approaching.

"Buffy, it is nearly time to patrol, I assume you will all be joining her tonight?" Giles asked, looking around at everyone present.

"You guys go," Jennifer nodded. "I need to call Nick, see what he wanted to talk about earlier."

"But…" Xander frowned as he came over to the pool and climbed out before towelling himself off. "What about. you know."

"You'll be fine Xander," Jennifer smiled at him. "You've shown restraint so far, and haven't broken anything on thrown yourself on a rampage, I believe one nights patrol on your own would do you good."

"Really, 'cause I could always stay here ya know, I don't have to go." He said nervously, not wanting to lose control of himself as the Hulk and end up hurting Buffy or Willow.

"Go, you'll be fine," Jennifer smiled as Xander moved over to her and kissed her, dripping water all over her in the process. "Go," She laughed, pushing him away from herself.

"Ok, patrol I guess," Xander nodded as Buffy, Willow and Oz got out of the pool and used the towels on the loungers to dry off. "Is there anywhere specific, I mean, anywhere that needs checking out?"

"I kinda wanted to check out around campus," Buffy volunteered. "I've been patrolling there the last few nights, get a feel for the vamp activity around college ya know."

"Sounds good," Xander nodded. "Got a new toy I wanted to try out anyway."

"New toy? A weapon?" Buffy asked, a glint in her eyes at the idea of a new weapon to play with.

"Nu huh," Xander shook his head. "A me sized weapon if you get my drift."

"Huh?" Buffy asked, turning to Jennifer for clarification.

"It's an axe," Jennifer laughed at the puzzled look on Buffy's face. "About as big as he is, Reed sent it over for him to use on vampires when he's hunting as the Hulk."

"Big axe?" Buffy asked, trying to picture how big the axe would have to be for Xander to wield it as the Hulk.

"Big, sharp and dangerous," Xander grinned. "Can't wait to try it on the local vamps."

"Sounds fun," Buffy nodded, still pouting at the fact that she didn't get a weapon of her own out of the deal. "OK, change then patrol I guess. I should call my mom as well; let her know where I've been."

"I'll show you the phone," Jennifer smiled as she stood up. "You can use the bedrooms upstairs to change." She said to everyone else as she led Buffy inside to the living room.

"Are you certain about this Xander?" Giles asked, looking over at Xander as he finished drying himself off. "I have no doubt that you could be a valuable asset to Buffy on patrol, though would it not be best to ascertain your strength levels and what effect vampires have on your new form, before patrolling?"

"Like Jen says, I should be fine," Xander nodded, he'd been thinking the same thing but Jennifer had put his fears to rest about vampires when she'd explained that they couldn't puncture his skin as the Hulk. "I guess I'd rather just be out there, helping in case anything goes wrong you know, like if something happened out there tonight, and I stayed here, it'd be my fault."

"I understand, I truly do. I just don't wish to see you injured if anything should happen." Giles sighed as he stood up. "I can understand your sentiment though; just do be careful out there."

"You know I will," Xander grinned. "It's not like trouble follows me around or anything is it?" He laughed as he moved inside to go and get changed into the pants Reed had designed for him and pick up the axe to use.

"Quite," Giles pinched his nose as he watched Xander move off into the house.

"It's ok Giles, we'll keep an eye on them," Willow smiled as she came up to him. "With Buffy and Xander patrolling, I think Sunnydale will be save from vamps for a long time to come."

"We can hope," Giles nodded with a sigh as Willow and Oz made their way inside the house to get changed as well while Jennifer made her way back outside. "There are quite a handful."

"So I can see," Jennifer laughed. "Good friends for Xander to have though, I've seen other people ostracised by their friends when they change like Xander has."

"Mutants," Giles nodded thoughtfully. "I have heard of the phenomena; though have yet to see a mutant up close. Yourself not withstanding of course."

"We're not actually mutants," Jennifer explained as she sat back down. "The effect gamma radiation has does have a mutating effect, though not the same as what the government classifies mutant activity as."

"Ah, I beg your pardon," Giles nodded, thankful of the information. "Will Xander be alright, patrolling on his own tonight?"

"I should think so," Jennifer smiled over as she replaced her sunglasses and laid back down on the lounger. "He's a bright young man, even as the Hulk he's not as mindless as Bruce is, I can't see him getting into any major trouble out there in one night."

"You'd be surprised," Giles smiled softly at that, reassured by Jennifer's words. "Trouble does seem to follow him around nearly as much as it does Buffy."

"He can't be that bad," Jennifer laughed.

"A hyena possession, soldier, falling for a praying mantis demon, an Incan mummy princess. would you like me to go on?" Giles asked with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Seriously?" Jennifer asked, turning to look at Giles to see if he was joking. "And he blew up his high school?"

"Well, yes, there were mitigating circumstances however," Giles frowned as he started cleaning his glasses on his t-shirt.

"You think I should follow them then? Keep an eye on them for tonight to see how he does?" Jennifer asked, actually wanting to hear Mr Giles opinion on the matter.

"Far be it for me to tell you what to do Miss Walters," Giles smiled at her. "You are hardly one of my students nor my charge. Though I would feel a bit better if you would follow them, at a discrete distance shall we say. Just in case."

"Does the worst really happen that often around here?" Jennifer asked, thinking it wasn't such a bad idea herself to check out the nightlife of Sunnydale.

"With alarming regularity," Giles nodded with a smile.

"Ok then," Jennifer nodded back. "I'll follow them around for a bit, but if it looks like they're doing alright, I'll come home."

"An acceptable compromise, thank you." Giles smiled over. "I must say, it's nice to actually have some adult conversation for a change, there is only so much 'teen speak' one can handle."

"I know what you mean," Jennifer laughed. "Cooped up in a car with Xander for twenty hours straight, the next 'shoulda turned left at Albuquerque' joke was going to end with a real punch line."

"I don't know how you coped," Giles laughed back dryly.

"Superhuman patience," Jennifer laughed alongside. "Has to be, it's the only answer."

* * *

"But Xander." Buffy pouted as they walked into the cemetery, Xander walking alongside her while Oz and Willow were behind them.

"No Buffy," Xander shook his head for the tenth time this night. "You've got your own weapons; you don't need to use mine."

"But it's so big!" Buffy exclaimed before she could stop herself. "Pretend I didn't say that."

"How nice of you to say," Xander smiled at her, he'd shown her the axe back at the house before they'd left, or rather Jen had shown them as Xander didn't want to keep switching back and forth between his Hulk form and normal before patrol.

"You know what I mean," Buffy pouted at him. "Please?"

"No," Xander said firmly, placing his hand over the axe blade to show possession. "Mine, you've got your own toys." He said, pointing to the stake she had in her hand and the short sword across her back.

"No fair," Buffy pouted at him again. "Well, are you at least going to change, wasn't the whole point of this to see what Hulk Xander could do?"

"Well, yeah, but." Xander trailed off, not wanting to sound like he was making excuses now.

"So go on already," Buffy said firmly. "Do your thing, get mean and green."

"Funny," Xander frowned at her but started to unbutton his shirt anyway. "Feels weird you know, patrolling topless."

"Big baby," Buffy stuck her tongue out at him, causing him to throw his shirt at her.

"Tell you what, you patrol topless next time as see how you feel," Xander smirked over at her before closing his eyes. "Ok... get back, just in case." He explained, stepping away from them carefully before concentrating on his anger and bringing it to the surface.

Buffy's eyes went wide as she started to see him transform, it was a lot more impressive than she'd imagined, going from Hulk to Xander was one thing, but seeing his skin turn green, his muscles growing and bulging outwards, his back stretching out and his chest expanding, that was something completely different.

"Rahh!" Xander roared into the night as he stretched up to the sky once the transformation was complete, his muscles in his arms bulging out as he stretched and flexed in his new form to get comfortable.

"Wow." Buffy breathed out in shock.

"I know," Willow commented from beside her. "I see Oz change every month, but that..."

"His entrance was better," Oz commented with a shrug. "I'm cool with that."

"Xander?" Buffy asked in a quiet voice as Xander started to walk over to them; in his new form the gravestones around him looking like shoe soles now.

"Here," Xander said slowly as he shook his head clear. "Graveyard smaller than I remember." He muttered as he pulled the axe free from his leg and pressed the catch on the bottom of the blade, causing the handle to extend out.

"Is he alright?" Buffy turned to Willow to ask as Xander continued to rub and shake his head.

"It's like he's drunk," Willow explained. "Jennifer said since he's bigger and stronger, his brain gets a bit cloudy, he gets better with time though."

"Ok cool," Buffy nodded with a smile. "You ready for some violence big guy?"

"Hulk smash," Xander quipped with a grin.

"Hulk smash puny vampires," Buffy nodded in an impression of him. "If we can find some that is." She commented as she looked around, sadly enough the graveyard looked to be pretty dead, even by Sunnydale standards.

"I'm sure there's some evil around Buffy," Willow commented supportively. "There always is."

"It's summer break though," Buffy whined as they continued on through the graveyard, Xander's feet making the ground shake slightly whenever he walked. "It's always quiet, it's like the vamps are on vacation or something, nothing ever happens until school starts again."

"Then they should be back," Willow smiled over. "School starts on Monday."

"Aww don't remind me," Buffy whined. "I haven't even picked my courses yet."

"I thought you wanted to do psychology," Willow piped up as she came to walk next to her. "Ohh, Xander got accepted as well; he's coming to college with us."

"Xander go college," Xander grinned down at them.

"Wow, it'll be just like high school," Buffy smiled up. "Think you could give me a hand, I mean I got campus accommodation but it's moving all my stuff, and with mom at the gallery."

"Sure," Xander nodded with a smile. "Do Monday after registration."

"Sounds good," Buffy smiled up. "Hey, you can help with the lifting as well, could even move my bed across."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Willow said quickly. "I mean, Xander's not exactly inconspicuous like that, the college might not like having a Hulk on campus."

"Yeah I guess," Buffy nodded with a sigh. "I mean, they'd pretty much freak at the sight of you now right?" Xander said nothing but nodded slowly in response, remembering Buffy's reaction when she saw Jen for the first time. "I mean, you're huge and all, and bright green," Buffy continued, ignoring Xander's look. "You'd stand out like a sore thumb walking around campus, or could you fit on campus, or through the doors even?" Buffy's line of thought was derailed when three vampires seemingly just wandered across the graveyard crossing their path. "Hold that thought." She said with a smile before she unsheathed her sword.

"What, whoa." One of the vampires let out as he turned around to see Buffy and Xander. "It's the friggin' Hulk man!"

"Hogan?" Another vampire asked as he looked around. "Aww hell, and the Slayer, what, did you two team up or something?" Without saying another thing he leapt forward, changing into his game face halfway through the air.

"Down!" Xander growled out as he simply slammed his fist downwards and punched the vampire out of the air, simply embedding him into the ground.

Buffy and the other two vampires froze mid fight at this; all three of them actually looking over to see the vampire embedded a clean foot or so into the graveyard ground.

"Holy…" Buffy whistled out in amazement.

"Vampires suck!" Xander growled again, stepping forward and catching another of the vampires with an uppercut that set it soaring into the night sky where it disappeared from view.

"I quit!" The remaining vampire said, holding up his hands. "No way, uh uh, no one said anything about the friggin' Hulk being here."

"Bite me," Buffy said as she swung the sword around and easily decapitated the vampire, watching as it turned to dust before going back to stare at the vampire still embedded in the ground. "Did you..."

"Plant vampire." Xander grinned, staring down at the immobile vampire.

"Is he… dead?" Buffy asked, kneeling down to examine the vampire closer.

"Check," Xander nodded as he reached down and grabbed the vampire's jacket, pulling him up out of the ground and holding him in the air with ease.

"Looks ok," Buffy commented, staring at the vampire before poking it in the chest. "Ewww," She quickly pulled back her hand. "It's all squishy and stuff."

Willow stared at Buffy for a moment before cautiously stepping forwards and pressing the vampire's chest herself to see what she meant. "Ewww," Willow had the same response, pulling her hand back. "There's no bones there Buffy, he must have. Xander's punch must have liquefied them or something."

"Broken vampire," Xander smiled. "I can do that." He moved his hand carefully around the vampire until he was holding it upside down from its feet, before repeatedly smashing it onto the floor until it dusted on the third impact. "Dusted." He said simply as he dusted the vampire ashes off of his torso and legs.

"What happened to the other one?" Willow asked, looking around.

"Went up," Buffy commented, pointing to the sky. "Xander hit it pretty hard."

"Flying vampires," Xander commented as more and more of his faculties started coming back to him. "Think it'll come back down?" He asked idly, looking up to try and spot anything.

"I have no idea," Buffy said idly, still looking up. "Can vampires even survive in space?"

"I asked Jen same thing," Xander frowned. "She said not to try."

"Why not?" Buffy asked with a shrug. "Guess you just did try actually."

"Don't know where it'll land," Xander said by way of explanation.

"Well, should we wait, you know, just in case?" Buffy asked, looking to Willow for any suggestions.

"We should ask Giles, maybe tomorrow," Willow said off hand. "Even if it does come down, it'll probably be like the other one."

"Squishy vampire," Xander laughed with a grin before he picked up his axe again. "More." He laughed as he looked around the graveyard for his next target.

"Ok ok," Buffy smiled up at him. "But leave some for me next time ok?" She laughed as they continued on through the graveyard, ever so often sneaking a glance as Xander's new muscles in awe at the power they contained, and a little part of the slayer was actually afraid of it.


	4. Chapter 4

Giles was actually feeling better than he had in a long time as he drove back to his flat just outside of Sunnydale, Xander was back, home and safe, and happy with his friends, and had somehow brought home a super powered girlfriend with him, not to mentioned gained powers of his own in the process that dwarfed most other self-proclaimed heroes on the planet.

He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but Sunnydale actually felt safer tonight, like there was an air of hope in the night where there had been nothing for so long. It felt nice to know that Buffy actually had some real support now on her nightly duties, someone that could actually effectively help her with nightly patrols should anything arise beyond the powers of a single slayer.

As he parked his car next to the sidewalk he allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction, knowing that his 'children' were safe, protected and now protecting the town better than they ever had done before. It was as if the universe had given them a little reward for all the good they had done so far, as the cost of a curse to Xander of course, but from what he had seen of the young man so far, a bearable curse that he weathered with ease.

Walking down the steps towards his flat the smile vanished from his face as he noticed the lights were on inside his flat, as he was meticulous in turning off all electrical devices before leaving the premises, he could only come to the conclusion that he had uninvited guests. Top of the list was instantly Quentin and his council goons, come to cause Buffy more trouble now that Wesley had effectively left Sunnydale.

Pushing the door open with his foot he confirmed that the door had in fact been opened without a key, though a passing inspection of the lock showed no sign of breaking or entering as he walked through carefully.

"Hello?" Giles asked out loud into the lit area, silently picking up a sword from its holding place next to the door and gripping it tightly. There was a strange smell in the air that did in fact remind him of Council Headquarters as he walked into the living room, the sword in his hand ready for action at a moment's notice.

"Rupert Giles,"

Giles span around at the voice, pointing his sword directly at the man responsible for breaking into his house. The man seemed to be in his early forties, bald and coloured, wearing a simple black trench coat and an eye patch across his left eye.

"You might do me the pleasure of your name, as you obviously know mine, after breaking into my house of course it's only polite." Giles bit out in a clipped tone.

"Nick Fury," The man said simply as he took another pull on a very thick cigar, if the smell was anything to go by, it was the same brand that Quentin used to favour.

"And why you saw fit to break into my flat?" Giles asked, the sword in his hand not wavering from where it was pointed at the man's neck.

"To speak to you," The man said simply. "If I wanted you harmed, I could have simply have shot you when you entered or when you were exiting your vehicle." He smiled disarmingly as he blew a cloud of smoke out of his mouth into the air. "Despite which, you are a man Alexander holds in great esteem, and I would not wish to turn his ire towards myself, having invested a large sum of money into the young man of late."

"You're the one who bought him the house," Giles said in recognition as he slowly lowered the sword.

"Of course," Fury said with a smile. "Once I looked up his home life, and paid Mr and Mrs Harris a small visit, I felt it necessary to arrange for suitable accommodation for him."

"For which I am thankful of," Giles nodded. "His parents?"

"Beaten and incarcerated," Fury said simply. "The house will be sold, the proceeds paid directly into Alexander's bank account." He paused, taking another pull from the cigar. "Alexander is under my protection now; I will personally see to it that his parents are never freed from the maximum security penal colony they now inhabit."

"A fitting end from what Xander told me of them," Giles nodded in approval.

"After reading up on you, I do find it hard to believe you didn't take care of matters yourself," Fury paused as he blew the smoke out. "Ripper."

"You are well informed," Giles frowned at the use of his old nickname. "I can count on one hand the people that called me that and are still alive to talk about it, none of which would talk to you I am sure."

"I can be persuasive," Fury said with a small smile.

"As can I." Giles said simply as he stared across at the interloper to his home.

"You said you came here to talk?"

"Down to brass tacs then," Fury nodded. "I can appreciate that. I'm here to clean house, after I looked into Alexander's history, I looked into his acquaintances, namely you and Miss Summers. The current Slayer I believe."

"If you wouldn't mind," Giles nodded as he walked to the kitchen and returned with an ash tray for the man who took it with a simple nod.

"I know of your Watchers Council, I know of the deal passed with the British Royal family to secure your own criminal record. And I know you are currently out of work." Fury finished off as he tapped the cigar ash into the provided ash tray.

"You expect me to be surprised by your level of knowledge?" Giles frowned, inwardly he was surprised, not everyone could access that level of information on him, it would have taken someone very high in the echelons of international politics to get access to that sort of information, but he wasn't going to give the man the satisfaction of seeing that.

"Not particularly," Fury shrugged. "I know you are trained in various firearms use, martials arts, the black arts, ancient weapons and currently hold a doctorate in mythology and occult history." He paused, taking another pull from the cigar. "Would you like me to continue?"

"I'd rather you didn't actually," Giles frowned at him.

"Good, I was getting bored," Fury smiled over. "I am currently in charge of a relatively new initiative known as SHIELD, despite being only a year or so old, we do not lack in funding or resolve. I am currently backing Alexander to attend college here, while he works for me. I would like to offer you the same."

"I'm afraid I'm a little old for college," Giles said with a wry smile.

"I fought in the second world war, who's counting?" Fury said as he grinned around the cigar. "I originally offered Jennifer the prospect of opening a law firm in Sunnydale, however, that was before I looked into this town's history and death rate."

"I assume you know those figures are factually incorrect." Giles said simply, moving back towards the kitchen to fetch his emergency stash of cigarettes from the drawer there, the smell of smoke in the air rekindling his desire to smoke himself.

"Naturally," Fury nodded. "They fail to take into account the missing persons turned into vampires, the undead or demonic population of the town."

"Then you know all you need to," Giles said as he tapped out a cigarette with practiced ease and lit it with a match.

"I can do this two ways Mister Giles, one, you come and work for me. Bring in a hefty salary in return for teaching my agents how to combat the supernatural menace and keep the Hellmouth safe and secure. Two, I bring in my own team and sweep Sunnydale clear of any demonic influence, it won't be clean and it won't be pretty, but it'll do the job."

"And what of Buffy?" Giles asked, wondering if he should just let the man do as he claims he could, and erase the demonic population of Sunnydale for good.

"We'll take control, offer her the equipment and funding she needs to do the job effectively," Fury said simply. "She'll be retasked and sent wherever I decide, whenever and whenever I decide."

"And of Xander and Willow?" Giles asked as he blew out some cigarette smoke into the already cloudy air.

"Alexander is already in my employ," Fury shrugged. "He will help in erasing this town from the map, then will be posted elsewhere to deal with any other demonic threats. Miss Rosenberg, I have no interest in. She can finish out her college life and do whatever she chooses. SHIELD has no interest in her."

"They need each other," Giles frowned at the options Fury had laid out before him. "They are more a family than any of them have had before."

"With you as the father," Fury said simply as he ground out the cigar in the ash tray before placing it on the table in the middle of the room. "I already know your answer, why do you insist on debating the issue?"

"I may surprise you," Giles frowned over at him.

"You'd be the first," Nick smirked back. "I'm not asking for much, once a week I will send a team here, four men. You teach them and train them in the basics of demonic fighting and send them back to me. For this, you'll be paid well and become a valued agent yourself."

"You make it sound like you haven't already decided for me." Giles ground out as he stubbed the cigarette out in the ash tray.

"Now you're getting it," Fury grinned at him. "The agents will be here Tuesday until Saturday. Teach them what you can in that time. They are not to help the slayer and will have their own assignments."

"Will they offer assistance if needed?" Giles asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Naturally," Fury nodded. "Though with a Slayer and two Hulks patrolling the town, I doubt four soldiers will make that much of a difference, do you?"

"One man can make a difference," Giles said firmly.

"So we're on the same page then," Fury said in parting as he simply walked out of the door and closed it behind him, leaving Giles alone to his thoughts.

* * *

"Oh my god, I'm going to puke!" Buffy clasped her hand over her mouth as Xander placed her gently down on the hulk sized bed.

Patrol had gone without a hitch, Xander had sent two move vampires into orbit before realising that hitting them disabled them for long enough to either stake or decapitate them. Though he had been quite upset when he realised he'd actually stomped on one by accident and ended up with dust all over his feet.

So they'd come back early to unwind and talk about their plans for college and the coming week, which had quickly degenerated into Buffy and Jen having a pillow fight to which the bedroom was now effectively covered in a light smattering of feathers. One of which had caused Xander to sneeze, which was why the bed sheets were now in the trash can outside ready to be burnt.

After that Buffy had unwisely challenged Xander to an arm-wrestling competition, while Jennifer was sat on the bed telling Oz and Willow tales about Tony Stark that were making Willow blush as bright as her hair. The arm wrestling competition had gone according to plan, until Xander actually got bored of lying there while Buffy used every angle and conceivable technique of cheating she could to win the match. Instead he'd simply flipped his arm, causing Buffy to fall into his hand, which he then started moving about the room quickly, causing Buffy to hang onto his fingers for dear life while he spun her around like a puppet.

Which was why Buffy was now doing a passable Hulk impression herself, complete with green skin and heading towards the bathroom in a vaguely zig-zag fashion.

"That was mean," Willow laughed over at Xander. "Funny, but mean."

"She'll get you back for that you know," Jennifer laughed over from where she was laid on the bed.

"I was worth it," Xander laughed as he moved to sit on the bed.

"You can all sleep here tonight if you want," Jennifer offered. "There's spare rooms across the hall, I think they've all got bedding already sorted."

"Are you sure?" Willow asked, truth be told she was having more fun tonight than she'd had in the entire summer holidays. Xander was back and proving as fun as ever, his new girlfriend was so much fun to be around, she was big and green but strangely attractive, even to her. She'd put it down to how carefree and fun she seemed to be, such a strong person and as big hearted as Xander was.

"Of course," Jennifer smiled. "It's late, and I'm sure none of you are even tired yet, so we may as well make a night of it."

"Cool," Oz nodded in appreciation.

"I'm game," Xander grinned. "Though we may need more food, starting to get hungry again."

"It's the metabolism," Jennifer smiled. "You can eat pretty much whatever you want now, just as long as you keep your energy levels up."

"No fair," Willow pouted, adding this on to the growing list of why Jennifer was so lucky. "You're like the perfect woman or something."

"Willow, no trying to steal my girlfriend," Xander warned her mockingly, waving his finger at her with a grin.

"And what if I steal her?" Jennifer laughed, rolling over and capturing Willow around the waist before pulling her in for a kiss.

"Did… did she… are they..." Xander stammered out as he watched his girlfriend kiss his best friend.

"Yeah," Oz looked on with a nod. "Kinda hot."

"Extremely," Xander nodded in appreciation as Jennifer broke the kiss, leaving Willow flustered and blushing terribly. "Next time you do that, can we have some warning, or a camera to capture the moment please."

Jennifer just laughed as she stood up and made her way over to Xander, kissing him as passionately as she had just done to Willow. "Better?" She asked with a smile as she ran her hands over his body.

"Still want to see that again," Xander grinned, earning him a glare from both Willow and Jennifer. "What, it was hot." He grinned again as Jennifer smacked him on the chest.

"I want ice cream," Jennifer smiled. "Then a movie?" She volunteered the idea.

"Sounds like a plan," Xander nodded as Buffy came back into the room. "Feeling alright there?" He grinned as she walked over and slapped him on the stomach.

"Not funny," She glared up at him. "And I still couldn't beat you."

"It's the radiation," Jennifer supplied by way of explanation. "Your strength is supernaturally based, ours is science. The gamma radiation that mutates our bodies gives us more than enough strength to throw a car from here to the other side of town." She shrugged as Buffy pouted. "Just the way we are I guess."

"So not fair," Buffy pouted again, sticking out her bottom lip as far as she could.

"We're getting ice cream," Willow interrupted as a sort of ice breaker. "Then a movie, and Jennifer said we can stay the night if we want."

"Slumberparty?" Buffy perked up at the idea. "Rocky road?" She asked, turning to Jennifer this time.

"I'll see what's in the freezer," She laughed as she made her way out of the room and downstairs.

"She's cool," Buffy admitted with a smile to Xander as she moved back over to the bed.

"Yeah," Xander said dreamily. "I don't know how I got so lucky, god knows what she sees in me. I mean, have you heard her ex's? Tony Stark for one, god, how do I measure up to a multibillionaire?"

"Well, I'd say you're a bit taller for one," Buffy quipped with a smile.

"Hah hah," Xander laughed dryly at her. "I mean, I think she even dated one of the fantastic four, or she knows them pretty well at least. I'm no superhero Buff, how do I even compare with these guys. She even dated some hotshot lawyerin LA for christsake."

"But she came home with you," Oz added sagely, causing everyone in the room to turn to him.

"My boyfriend's so smart," Willow laughed as she kissed Oz softly on the lips.

"He's right," Buffy shrugged. "She's here with you, I mean; you've got a house together and everything. It's that a little fast?"

"I don't know," Xander sighed as he sat on the bed. "I mean, sure it's fast, but it just kinda feels right you know, and it's like we can both be here without wrecking the place, can you imagine me trying to walk around your house like this?" Xander gestured to himself for emphasis.

"Mom's insurance wouldn't cover Xander-damage," Buffy said with a nod.

"Or my parents, god, can you imagine how they'd react?" Xander sighed as he slumped back on the bed, causing it to shake and bounce the others for a bit before settling down. "With me and Jen, it's right, it's like we click somehow, like someone up there wants us to be together."

"You sound pretty sure," Willow said with a grin as she saw Jennifer in the doorway listening in, her finger on her lips indicating she wanted to listen.

"I am," Xander said with a smile. "Not because she saved my life, it's the way she sings along to cheesy country songs in the car, the way she sees people, like they're better than they are. She's a real hero; I just hope I can be good enough for her."

"I'm sure you are," Willow smiled as Jennifer sneaked into the room on tiptoes, a huge tub of mint choc chip ice cream in her hand and a collection of spoons in the other. "If you're not, I can always steal her off of you."

"Yeah... hey!" Xander exclaimed as he figured out what Willow had just said, shortly before there was a very cold feeling on his stomach that caused him to buck off the bed, nearly sending everyone flying as Jennifer dropped the tub of ice cream onto his stomach. "What was that for?" He pouted up as he pulled Jennifer down on top of him.

"Fun," Jennifer grinned down as she kissed him. "Now stop worrying about why me and you are together, and just enjoy it."

"You... you were listening?" Xander asked her before turning to Willow and Buffy. "And you guys didn't tell me?" He glared at them both before turning to Oz. "Traitor." He muttered.

"My allegiance is with the redhead," Oz commented with a smile and shrug.

"You're all traitors," Xander commented as Jennifer kissed him again.

"Ok, so we've got ice cream, there's cookie dough downstairs in the cupboard as well if we finish this," Jennifer smiled as she handed out spoons and tore the lid of the ice cream with ease.

"Finish it?" Buffy said in awe, looking at the ten litre tub of ice cream. "I'm in heaven right guys, I died over summer and no one told me right?"

"No," Jennifer laughed. "I could finish one of these on my own while watching a movie, there's another one in the freezer as well."

"How do you feel about lodgers?" Buffy asked in as innocent voice as she could manage, while eying the tub of ice cream hungrily.

"Movie?" Willow asked as Jennifer and Buffy quickly dig their spoons into the ice cream and started devouring it.

"Something cheesy," Xander commented as he sat up. "Do we have videos or…"

"The TV's are all linked to Tony's collection," Jennifer smiled over. "He likes to digitise things, makes them easier to access for him."

"You're so lucky," Willow grinned over at Xander and Jennifer as she leaned forward to help herself to a spoon full of the ice cream.

"I know," Jennifer laughed. "A cheesy musical, a classic." She paused before turning to the TV. "Access video database."

"Accessing," The British voice of the computer system came over the speakers. "Range?"

"Musicals," Jennifer said with a grin. "Little Shop of Horrors."

"Good choice," Oz nodded in approval. "Cheese rating, nine."

Jennifer flopped back on the bed as the TV screen was filled with the opening credits, sitting the ice cream in front of her so everyone could have easy access to it, though her and Buffy did most of the eating while Xander fell asleep half way through the movie.

All in all, it was the perfect end to a perfect day.

* * *

Fury smiled to himself as he walked out of Rupert Giles flat and up the steps onto the street outside, the wind pulling his jacket around in the warm Californian night air.

A black sedan pulled up by the sidewalk and a young man with red hair exited the car and walked over to stand next to him as he lit up a fresh cigar "He went for it?"

"Naturally," Fury nodded as he blew out a cloud of smoke. "He's as protective over Summers as the reports said."

"Good to hear our time on Travers wasn't wasted." The main said with a small smile.

"Not at all," Fury nodded. "Keep an eye on this Council of theirs; I don't like what I've seen of them so far, they might be a problem later on."

"Isolate and take over?" The man asked as he moved to get back in the car.

"Not yet," Fury shook his head. "Leave them, but get me the information on the other slayer they have, I don't trust Travers as far as I could spit him."

"I'll have it in the morning," The man said with a textbook salute before he got back in the car and drove off, leaving Fury standing under a streetlight with his cigar.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Fury commented to himself as he began to walk down into the centre of Sunnydale town, it was a quiet night and it wasn't as if he was any stranger to combat or was unarmed.

He was barely ten yards down the road and about to cross to the other side when a peculiar sound caused him to actually look up into the night sky. The bemused expression across his face looked even stranger around the thick cigar perched in his lips, which promptly dropped to the ground as his eye told him it was in fact a man falling from the sky towards him.

The cigar hit the ground and scattered fiery ash around, which coincidentally is what happened to the man as he impacted the asphalt road with enough force to leave a dent before exploding into ash which was blown away in the wind.

Fury stared at the sight for a moment before blinking and picking up the cigar and dusting off the end of it. "It really does rain damn vampires here then," He commented to himself as he continued the walk into town, puffing on the cigar as he walked.

* * *

Xander smiled to himself as he woke up, sunlight streaming through the open window across the room onto the bed where he was laying with Jennifer in his arms. The first thing he noticed was that she wasn't dwarfing him like she normally did, a quick glance down told him that he was still in his Hulk form and was comfortably cuddling Jennifer without any problem.

"Morning," Jennifer muttered out a bit sleepily as she kissed him softly on the forehead.

"Hey," Xander nodded and kissed her back. "You know, this is the first time I've gone to sleep and woke up like this." He smiled. "Yay me."

"I told you it would get easier with time," Jennifer smiled at him. "You're getting better with your control as well."

"Yeah," Xander nodded, remembering how easily he'd been punching the vampires out last night, he'd been careful to pull his punches after the first few vampires had ended up in orbit, so now he had a good feel for how hard he could hit them without liquefying them. "Control good," He nodded sagely.

"So, what do you want to do today?" She asked as she propped herself up in bed and idly stroked his chest with one finger.

"Is staying in bed all day an option?" Xander grinned at her.

"Afraid not," Jennifer laughed. "You need to go back to your parents at some point, pick up your stuff. And I need to talk to Nick about this law firm thing, find out exactly what he's planned for me."

"It's Sunday," Xander grumbled. "Doesn't the guy take a day off?"

"I think he took christmas off," Jennifer shrugged. "Once, I think."

"Ugh, fine," Xander grumbled to himself as he pushed the duvet off and climbed out of bed. "You think the others are up yet?"

"I heard someone moving about earlier, might have just been using the bathroom though," Jennifer said with a smile as she watched Xander stretch in the morning light, the soft sunlight playing over his form as he moved.

"Ok," Xander nodded as he pulled on the stretchy pants that Reed had given him. "You know, we're going to need more of these, one pair isn't going to work when we have to wash them and all that."

"I'll ask," Jennifer shrugged. She'd always had a few leotards hanging around that Janet designed for her, so having just one did present a problem. "Breakfast?"

"Hmm, and coffee," Xander sighed happily. "Shower first though,"

"Hmm, you read my mind," Jennifer purred out as she got out of bed slowly and smirked at him.

"Later," Xander laughed as Jennifer kissed his neck and started running her hands down his stomach. "Not when we've got people over."

"Spoilsport," Jennifer pouted, slapping him lightly on the ass. "Fine, you shower, I'll put breakfast on. Pancakes and syrup sound good?"

"Perfect," Xander nodded as he kissed her once more before opening the bedroom door and moving to the bathroom.

Jennifer just smiled to herself as she watched him leave the room, things were actually good here, surprisingly good. She was happy with Xander and could actually see a relationship progressing further than the fooling around they had been doing so far. It was nice, last night was nice, being around his friends who didn't treat him or her differently because of how they looked, or wanted anything from her.

She'd been part of teams before, and had lovers before, but they'd all fallen through or disappointed her somehow, for some reason, she couldn't see that happening with Xander. Sure, he had his share of faults, and a self-esteem problem a mile wide, but she was sure she could help him with that. It was like a real family here, one she'd automatically been accepted into, even his best friend, Willow, had accepted her and seemed to be really happy for him, which was definitely a strange sensation as in the past, her lovers family and friends, generally avoided her or downright hated her for what she was.

"You never know, this might be the one," She laughed to herself as she pulled on a dressing gown from the wardrobe and walked out of the room, heading down the hallway to the spare bedrooms to see if anyone else was up yet.

"Morning?" She asked quietly as she knocked on the first door politely.

"We're up," Willow's voice came from inside.

"I'm making breakfast, you two want any?" She asked as she pushed the door open to see Willow and Oz lazing on the bed talking. The sight was quite comedic actually as the bed was the same size as the other beds in the house, Hulk sized, meaning it stretched out around them like a small swimming pool.

"I could eat," Oz nodded in appreciation.

"Famished," Willow said with a smile. "Do you need any help?"

"I'm good thanks," Jennifer smiled in thanks for the offer though. "Just come down when you're ready." She nodded as she closed the door but stopped half way through. "Do you know if Buffy's up yet?" She asked with a smile.

"Yeah, she came in earlier, said she was going to play in the gym for a bit," Willow explained easily.

"Ah ok then," Jennifer nodded. "I'll see you downstairs." She smiled as she closed the door behind her and headed downstairs, hearing the shower running behind the closed door of the bathroom on her way down.

Sure enough as she reached the main floor and walked into the kitchen, the door leading to downstairs was open and the lights on. Deciding to talk to Buffy before she started making breakfast she walked down to see how she was getting on down there.

As she reached the bottom on the stairs she smiled, instead of using the weights or punchbags, Buffy was on one of the large blue mats running through some sort of martial arts kata, with a strip of cloth over her eyes to act as a blindfold.

The skill and precision of the kata left Jennifer struck with awe, she'd heard stories from Xander about how Buffy was this fantastic warrior for the side of good, this mystical chosen one with the strength and skill to match the vampires and demons. His words not hers. But so far she'd only seen the Californian girl exterior, a bubbly young girl who loved life and her friends. She'd seen a bit of her strength the previous night when she was testing the weight machines, but that didn't compare to the skill she was seeing here.

"Morning," Buffy said chirpily, turning to Jennifer without removing her blindfold.

"Morn… how did you know I was here?" Jennifer asked in shock as Buffy took off the blindfold and tucked it into the waistband of her pants.

"Heard you," Buffy shrugged. "You and Xan, you both got pretty strong heart beats, could hear them a mile off. And since he 'thuds' when he walks, and you came down the stairs pretty quietly, wasn't hard to guess."

"I see," Jennifer smiled over, mentally adding super hearing to the list of powers the young slayer had at her disposal. "Can I ask, what was that? It looked familiar but…" She trailed off, trying to figure out what martial art the slayer was actually using there.

"Tang Soo Do," Buffy smiled back. "Some fancy martial art Giles was teaching me, Korean, I think, or Tibetan, somewhere over there." She shrugged as she tried to remember what else Giles had told her about the art.

"It's beautiful," Jennifer nodded in approval. "I could see your muscles working as you pushed, it must take a lot of control to focus like that."

"The blindfold helps," Buffy smiled as she walked over. "Giles says it's good for meditation and 'spiritual growth'," She put airquotes around the last words with her fingers and a smile. "It's good though, helps me relax."

"I'd love for you to show me sometime," Jennifer smiled, thinking that any martial art that could help a slayer focus would definitely be beneficial towards herself, it would also be good to actually train with someone else, most of the time when she went to a gym or had people over to train with her at home, they were only interested in showing off for her, or gawking at her body while she trained. She got the picture that with Buffy, she wouldn't have to worry about either of those things.

"Sure," Buffy smiled widely at the thought of having someone to train with. "I could get Giles to teach us, he knows so much about this stuff."

"I'm seeing that," Jennifer laughed. "I'm making breakfast, do you want some?"

"Oh god yes," Buffy practically gushed out. "You wouldn't believe how hungry I get after a workout or patrol. Mom has to buy extra food in every week just so I don't starve to death."

Jennifer laughed at this and started her way back up the stairs. "I saw with the amount of ice cream you ate last night, nice to find another woman who doesn't have to watch what they eat."

"Yeah," Buffy nodded thoughtfully as she came up the stairs behind her. "It's like I just burn through food, I have to keep snacking on energy bars just to keep myself going sometimes."

"Just wait until I invite some friends over," Jennifer laughed as they reached the kitchen level. "I think you'll get on just fine with Ben." She smiled as she made her way into the kitchen.

"This is still weird," Buffy pouted as she walked into the kitchen with her. "It's like everything here is huge, I feel like a leprechaun or something."

"You didn't enjoy the bed?" Jennifer smirked over as she pulled out two huge mugs and three normal sized ones before filling up the percolator with water.

"Oh no, that was amazing," Buffy grinned. "It's huge, like an orgy sized bed or something," She clapped her hand over her mouth and blushed when she realised what she'd said. "Oh my god, I can't believe I just said that."

Jennifer just laughed at this and proceeded to carry on making coffee for everyone. "You've got time to grab a shower if you want, breakfast should be about fifteen minutes or so, we can have it outside since it's a nice day."

"It's Sunnydale," Buffy shrugged. "We only get nice days here." She paused, sniffing herself slowly. "Stinky?" She asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Two hour workout?" Jennifer asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nearly three," Buffy grimaced. "Shower." She nodded before heading back into the living room and up the stairs.

"Towels are in the linin closet I think," Jennifer laughed as she called out after her.

Buffy smiled to herself as she bounced up the stairs, she was actually feeling better about herself now than she had in a long time. Her friends were all back together, Willow and Oz were happy, even Xander seemed happy with his new girlfriend, who was extremely cool, college was starting tomorrow and the world just seemed right somehow.

It was like a cloud had been lifted off of her, the future was starting tomorrow and for the first time it actually seemed pretty bright. With Jennifer and Xander here, patrols were going to be easier and easier, which was good she thought, as with starting college she was going to have less and less time to actively patrol Sunnydale town and keep it safe.

She was so lost in thought that she just automatically opened the bathroom door and stepped in, pulling off her t-shirt as she closed the door before turning around to find she was not alone in the bathroom. Her eyes widened as she saw the giant green form under the shower, staring at her with wide eyes just like she was staring at him. They both stood there, frozen for a minute before Buffy darted back out of the room, her face flushed red as she slammed the door shut and pinned herself up against it.

"Buffy, what is it?" Willow shouted as she came out of her room to see Buffy topless holding the bathroom door shut with her back. "Why are you topless?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"X… Xan..." Buffy stammered out as she used one arm to cover up her chest.

"I've seen you naked before Buffy," Willow smiled at her. "Remember, we did gym together for three years.

"Sh… shower." Buffy stammered out as Jennifer came up the stairs to see what the commotion was all about.

"Are you ok?" Jennifer asked, looking at Buffy's flushed face and topless appearance.

The bathroom door opened a crack slowly behind Buffy, pulling inwards and nearly causing her to topple over before a green hand poked through the gap with Buffy's shirt hung on it. Buffy immediately grabbed the shirt with her free hand and pulled it on, while the green hand pulled back inside the door just as quickly and closed the door behind it.

"Oh!" Jennifer exclaimed with a laugh. "Did you just walk in on Xander? I thought he'd have finished by now in there."

"Oh my god!" Willow exclaimed, clamping both hands over her mouth. "Really?"

"And you started to undress before you noticed him?" Jennifer said, trying her very best to keep as straight a face as possible.

"Uhuh," Buffy nodded slowly, the blush coming back over her face with vengeance now.

"Did… did you see…" Jennifer trailed off with a grin.

"Uhuh," Buffy nodded slowly as the blush darkened.

At this Jennifer couldn't hold it in anymore, breaking out in so much laughter that she had to hold on to the bannister for support as she practically collapsed on the stairs from laughter. A quick glance at Willow told her that she was having the same problem but was trying to hold it in to be supportive for her friend.

"If… if you wanted," Jennifer laughed out. "To see my boyfriend naked, you could have just asked." Jennifer managed to get out in-between pails of laughter.

"I didn't, I don't… Wah!" Buffy stammered out before sinking to the floor.

"Oh Buffy, I'm sure he knows it was an accident," Willow said as she walked over and knelt down beside her. "I mean, you didn't do it on purpose right?" A glare from the slayer told her that that was obviously the case.

"He'll be fine," Jennifer laughed. "You saw him, he saw you, tit for tat I say," She laughed again before standing upright and walking back down the stairs, still laughing to herself as she went.

"I'm not coming out," Xander's voice came through the door, causing Buffy to blush again. "Can I have breakfast in here?

* * *

Buffy hauled the last of her boxes down the stairs and out of her house, easily lifting the heavy load before dropping them in the back of Xander's car. It had taken them several hours and a dozen or more giggle fits before either of them could look each other in the eye. While Oz and Willow were moving their things with Oz's van, Xander had volunteered to help Buffy move her things while Jennifer finished sorting out details for the house.

"Hey Mrs S," Xander smiled as he rearranged the boxes in the back of the car so they'd have more room than just throwing them in wildly.

"Xander," Joyce smiled at him as she got out of her car. "Honey, I thought we were going to do this tomorrow?"

"Well I know you're busy mom," Buffy smiled over bashfully as she paused for a bit of a break. "I didn't want to bother you, so Xander said he could help."

"Honey, it's no bother," Joyce smiled at her. "My big girls going to college, I want to help out in any way I can."

"I'm not moving away mom," Buffy laughed as her mom pulled her in for a tight hug. "It's just college, I'll still come back home to see you."

"And bring you laundry," Joyce laughed.

"Once a week?" Buffy blushed as she smiled up at her mom.

"Whenever you want," Joyce smiled as she kissed Buffy on the top of her forehead. "That goes for you as well Xander, Buffy tells me you're going to college now, I know it must be hard with your parents moving but you're welcome here any time."

"Hold the phone," Xander interrupted, holding up his hands. "Parents moving, I know I haven't seen them for a while, but I'm sure they didn't say anything about moving before I left."

"There's a For Sale sign outside the house, sorry I thought you knew," Joyce said sadly. She didn't know much about Xander's parents, having only met his father once at the parent teacher night when he practically drooled over her before leaving early for a poker game, inviting her along with him with a leer.

"No," Xander frowned. "They didn't tell me, just like them though, probably moving to Reno or somewhere closer to a bar and craps tables."

"I wonder what they did with your things," Buffy asked in a small voice, not wanting to worry or anger Xander further.

"Do you mind if we stop of there first," Xander asked as he climbed into the driver's seat of the car. "I need to know what's going on there."

"Sure," Buffy nodded with a smile. "We'll be back to pick up the rest of my stuff later." She gave her mom one last hug before climbing into the car as well.

"There's no rush honey," Joyce smiled. "Drive safely."

"Thanks Mrs S," Xander smiled back. "Ready?" He asked as he checked Buffy had buckled up. "Let's go then."

* * *

"Guess mom was right," Buffy said with a frown as Xander parked the car outside his parents' house and she pointed to the For Sale sign.

"Yeah," Xander nodded slowly. "Kinda figured she would be, it's not the sort of thing your mom would just make up."

"I'm sorry," Buffy said with a frown as she laid her hand on Xander's shoulder lightly. "You're not going to go 'Hulk smash' on the place are you?"

"No," Xander sighed as he got out of the car. "It's the sort of thing I expected one day, kept expecting it to happen in high school actually, come home one day and find them gone."

"Were they that bad?" Buffy asked softly as she got out of the car alongside him.

"They didn't hit me or anything," Xander shrugged. "But arguments, shouting, throwing things around, that was a day to day activity, when they weren't plastered that is."

"I'm sorry," Buffy said, not knowing what else to say when she tried to picture herself growing up like that, her mom and Hank had had their fair share of arguments before the divorce, but they'd never thrown anything or got drunk over it.

"Like I said, no big," Xander shrugged as he fumbled with his keys to find the front door key in the chain. "Do you want to stay here; I wouldn't want to subject anyone to my parents if I didn't have to."

"I'm coming with," Buffy said firmly. "Don't want you losing your temper in there or anything; they can't sell the place if you destroy it right?" She smiled at the last as Xander mock glared at her.

"Fine," Xander nodded slowly. "But don't hit him, Tony might be an ass and a womaniser, but he's still my dad ok?"

"No promises," Buffy said with a nod, thinking back to how she'd dealt with jocks in high school who had tried to grab a feel without her permission.

Xander just sighed, bracing himself as he walked up the pathway and slid his key into the lock, slowly opening the door and waiting for the inevitable shouting match to start. "Hello?" He asked in a quiet voice when silence greeted him from inside. "I'm home?" He called again, pushing the door open wider so he could step inside. "Mom, dad? It's Xander."

"Perhaps they're out, or at work?" Buffy said as she walked into the house, following Xander slowly into the living room.

"Mom hasn't worked in years," Xander said softly. "And dad got suspended before I left for punching a co-worker, didn't think he'd get back to work before Christmas." He frowned to himself as he looked around, something was off with the place, aside from the fact it was clean and tidy, there was no smell of stale liquor in the air or clouds of smoke, even the tables and carpets looked like they'd been cleaned down and hovered by a cleaning service.

"Not bad," Buffy shrugged as she walked around. "Guess you're mom's pretty house proud huh?"

"Hardly," Xander snorted. "The place used to be a mess, stained carpet, beer cans all over the place." He frowned as he looked around. "This is eerie, it's like someone else's house."

"Well they're selling it," Buffy smiled. "Maybe they cleaned up so they could sell it quicker."

"Maybe," Xander frowned. "That window, it was broken years ago, dad threw the TV remote at me when the Raiders lost to the Cowboys in the playoffs, he missed and it went clean through."

"So they replaced it," Buffy shrugged, looking at the pain of glass. "Good job well, guess they replaced the entire window."

"Dad wouldn't shell out for that," Xander frowned. "Not after three years, he's as tight as they came, wouldn't even give me an allowance unless I worked it off for him. Something's not right here." He muttered to himself as he left the living room and moved through into the kitchen. "See, clean, no coffee stains or empty beer cans in the trash, it's like a show house or something."

"I'll admit, it is kind of creepy," Buffy commented as she followed him through, the house showed absolutely no signs of anyone living there, it was like someone had moved their stuff in but never bothered moving in themselves.

"Something's up here Buff," Xander frowned as he left the kitchen and moved downthe hallway to his own room, half of him not wanting to look inside as he slowly pushed the door open.

"Wow," Buffy gasped out as she looked inside. "Whitesnake?" She asked with a grin, seeing the poster on the wall. "Van Halen?" She asked again, looking at another poster. "And wow, you really do like em with big lungs hey?" She grinned, nodding to the Jenny McCarthy poster above his bed.

The room was a mess, clothes on the floor, a few coke cans lying about the place and empty cassette tape cases thrown idly on the floor. Old school work papers were scattered on the desk with a few magazines that she wished she had never seen, along with a few photos of her along with Willow and Xander as a group.

"You should clean up once in a while," She said, frowning at an empty bowl on the floor that she guessed used to be cereal before it started its own growth cycle.

"Hey, my room, my rules," Xander frowned as he walked in.

"I'm not touching anything in there," Buffy frowned, holding up her hands in surrender. "Demons take better care of their lairs than you do."

"See, why bother cleaning the entire house, but leave my room alone," Xander asked himself rhetorically as he walked in and threw some of the clothes from the floor onto the bed. "If they were trying to sell it, why bother at all?"

"Because it's for you," A male voice caused them both to spin around and look out of the room.

"Nick Fury," Xander nodded as he saw the coloured man in the hallway. "You did this?" He asked, motioning to the house.

"Not directly," Fury shrugged. "I placed the order though."

"Where are my parents?" Xander asked, stepping past Buffy and ignoring her confused look for the minute. "Have they moved out already?"

"They're in custody," Nick said simply as Xander walked up to him. "Your father was found guilty of embezzling funds from his work place; your mother assisted him in laundering the money through various bars around town." Fury lied effortlessly, the cover story had been concocted and tested, the relevant files placed easily in the Sunnydale police department computers.

"Arrested?" Xander asked in disbelief. "Figures, I always wondered how my dad kept drinking and gambling when he wasn't working enough to pay the bills."

"The house has been transferred to your name now," Fury said with a puff on his cigar. "The deed has been transferred to your name under SHIELD holdings and will be sold and the money transferred to your account."

"Wait… you're telling me I own the place now?" Xander asked in shock. "I'm only eighteen, can I even own a house?"

"Legally yes, the deed was passed to you when your parents were convicted, you can either continue to pay to mortgage on it, or sell it and keep the proceeds." Fury shrugged. "It's upto you."

"Sell it," Xander sighed as he looked around, remembering every painful memory of his childhood as he did.

"I figured as much," Fury nodded satisfactorily. "I'll draw up the paperwork and have Jennifer deal with the rest." He nodded at Xander before he turned to walk out of the house.

"Wait." Xander called out, jogging over to catch up with the man. "My parents, can I see them?"

"They're being held for embezzling funds and abuse of a minor," Fury said the last matter of factly, ignoring the shocked look on Buffy's face as he said it. "We have your hospital records, don't try and cover up for them."

"They're my folks," Xander said simply, not denying the fact that Tony had hit him once or twice when drunk or angry.

"Not anymore," Fury said simply. "Welcome to adult life kid. Remember what I said about college, I'll be keeping an eye on you." Without saying another thing he simply walked out of the house and closed the door behind him, leaving Xander alone with Buffy staring at him with a sad look on her face.

"Xander…" Buffy trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"Leave it Buff," Xander sighed as he turned around. "I... I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine," Buffy nodded. "But can I have your stereo?" She smiled at him, pointing to the stereo system by his bed.

* * *

"Hello Miss Walters, may I come in?" Giles asked as Jennifer opened the door.

"Please," Jennifer smiled as she stepped away from the door to let Giles enter the house, the security system passing its green beam over him swiftly but remaining silent. "Xander's not here though, he went with Buffy to help her move her things onto campus."

"It's actually you I came to see," Giles said with a small smile. "You see, last night I had a visitor who claimed to know you. I would have called but I neglected to get Xander's new number last night."

"No problem," Jennifer smiled as she led Giles through into the living room. "I think we'll have to get some normal sized furniture in here as well if people will be coming over regularly," She laughed to herself as Giles tried to make himself comfortable on the giant couch.

"It's not an issue," Giles smiled across. "Just something to adapt to I think."

"Coffee?" Jennifer asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Tea if you have it, or coffee will be fine," Giles smiled over at her from where he was sat.

"Tea, tea…" Jennifer muttered to herself as she started rooting through the cupboards, she still hadn't been through half of the things that had been set up for them in the house, she was rather surprised to find the cupboards fully stocked with food and essentials when they'd moved in, but then again Nick always was three steps ahead of everyone else when it came to anything involving his operatives. "I think." She muttered as she pulled a box out. "Earl Grey?" She asked, holding the box out for Giles to see.

"Thank you," Giles smiled at her.

"Milk, sugar?" She asked as she flicked on the kettle and brought down a mug for him.

"One sugar, no milk," Giles said thankfully, it was a relief to actually have tea in someone else's house and not have to find a specialist shop that stocked it. Normally he would suffice with coffee or a soft drink, finding out Xander's girlfriend actually stocked it in the house brought a small smile to his face.

"So, who was the visitor?" Jennifer asked as she came back into the living room while the kettle was boiling.

"He claimed to be called Nick Fury," Giles said as Jennifer sat on the couch across from him. "Balding fellow, about six foot and an eye patch."

"I know him," Jennifer said with a smile. "Smart ass attitude and always gets what he wants."

"Ah yes, the same man then," Giles sighed, not sure if it was a relief or not that the man had been on the level about knowing Jennifer.

"I met him a few years back when I was working with the Fantastic Four," Jennifer explained. "He was putting together a new agency, strategic homeland division or something; he wanted me to join as a consultant on superhuman problems."

"The government then?" Giles asked softly as Jennifer moved back into the kitchen when the kettle clicked off.

"I don't think so," Jennifer frowned. "At least, that's not the impression I got. They may have government ties, but Nick's not the type to bow to political posturing or agendas."

"I see," Giles nodded as Jennifer came back with a mug of tea for him and passed it over. "Thank you."

"What did he come to see you about?" Jennifer asked as she sat back down with a glass of water in her hand.

"He offered me a job actually," Giles said after taking a sip of the tea and smiling at the taste. "Or rather, pushed one upon me."

"Manoeuvred you into accepting," Jennifer nodded. "That's how he got me as well. He's doing the right thing, for the right reasons, he's just a bit ham fisted about how he gets it done."

"Indeed," Giles nodded over. "He wants me to train his men is supernatural threats. Demons, vampires and the like."

"I didn't picture Nick to have an interest in the supernatural," Jennifer said in surprise. "He's always hated it before, tried to stay as far away from it as possible."

"He seems to have turned his area of focus then," Giles frowned. "He asked me to provide training to four men per week, who would come to Sunnydale under his orders for training."

"Could you do it?" Jennifer asked, staring at Giles carefully to watch his response.

"I would have no problem training them in the basics, showing them weaknesses and behavioural patterns of demons and vampires." Giles nodded. "I worry about the effect of training military men in fighting the supernatural though, for many years it has been the Councils prerogative to keep the supernatural in check, along with various hunters that work outside the Councils purview."

"Does the Council have its own trained men to deal with the supernatural?" Jennifer asked, finding herself wanting to know more about this Council and their methods.

"Of course," Giles nodded. "The Slayer can't be everywhere, while the Slayer is tasked to supernatural hotspots like the Hellmouth here, various Council teams take care of minor occurrences should they arise."

"So the Council has its own army to deal with the supernatural already then?" Jennifer asked, leading Giles to the same conclusion she had come to.

"Well, yes," Giles nodded. "Teams are dispatched, to retrieve or destroy vampires or demons; I see where you are going with this."

"Exactly the same as what Nick wants you to trail men to do," Jennifer nodded. "The more people fighting the supernatural menaces, the better I would think."

"Indeed," Giles nodded, agreeing with her assessment. "I confess, I had not thought of the similarities before. The idea of a government agency tasked with fighting the supernatural is something I find quite abhorrent though."

"Fury isn't government," Jennifer said with a shrug. "He might have been military, but I can't see him bowing to politicians or governors easily. If he has a job to do, he'll do it, and he's one of the best I've seen at it."

"And his end goal?" Giles asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You'll have to ask him," Jennifer sighed. "Whatever it is, I doubt it's anything dangerous. More like he just wants to keep the vampires and demons under control, now they've been brought to his attention."

"And in the meanwhile, you believe I should offer the support he requested?" Giles asked as he continued to drink the tea that had been given to him.

"In my experience, people who work for SHIELD are paid extremely well for their expertise; he wouldn't have come to you with an empty offer Mr Giles."

"Giles please, or Rupert." Giles smiled at her, interrupting her thoughts.

"Rupert then," Jennifer smiled at him. "You'll be doing good work, and possibly help save these people's lives, if they go out there not knowing what to expect, do you think they would last longer with or without your support?"

"You pose an interesting question," Giles nodded thoughtfully. "I had intended in accepting the proposal anyway, you have just helped me cement the decision."

"Glad I could help," Jennifer smiled at him. "I was just about to cook some dinner, would you care to join me?"

"I wouldn't want to impose," Giles said softly as he finished the mug of tea before carefully sliding down from the giant couch to the floor.

"It's fine, really," Jennifer smiled over. "I used to eat alone a lot; it would be nice to have some company while Xander is out with his friends."

"Well then, I would be happy to," Giles smiled at her.

"Turn on the TV if you like; I'm thinking a nice roast would go down well. I can keep the rest in the oven for when Xander gets home, seeing as he'll probably bring the girls with him." Jennifer laughed as she moved into the kitchen.

"I confess I am not much of a fan of television," Giles smiled as he followed Jennifer through into the kitchen. "Is there anything I can do to help, I do rather enjoy cooking myself."

"Help yourself," Jennifer smiled at the kitchen. "I'll need to just run down to the shop, pick up a few things myself for the meal."

"Would you like me to accompany you?" Giles asked, unsure what sort of things she would be picking up at the store as the kitchen seemed to be extremely well stocked from what he could see.

"It's fine," Jennifer smiled as she grabbed a jacket from a coat hook on the wall. "Make yourself at home, I won't be long."

"If you're sure," Giles nodded. "I could begin some of the preparation."

"Sounds good," Jennifer smiled as she walked through to the front door. "Won't be long; help yourself to a drink or whatever you want."

"Thank you," Giles smiled at her as she left, closing the front door behind her and leaving him alone in the giant sized kitchen. "Now, where would the flour be?" He muttered to himself as he pulled over a stool to stand on so he could reach the cupboards.

* * *

"It's kinda cool ya know," Xander shrugged as he carried one of Buffy's boxes under one arm and had some papers in his other hand. "College, never thought I'd be here."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed with a nod as she looked around, glancing down at the paperwork admissions had given her. "OK, down here." She set as they reached the floor where she was staying. "Room two fourteen."

"Gotcha," Xander smiled over as he followed her down the corridor. "Is it going to be weird, rooming with someone?"

"I guess," Buffy shrugged. "But it's part of college life, we can't have one person dorms I guess."

"True," Xander nodded. "But how are you going to patrol, or keep weapons around, what if she's a snooper, it is a her right, not a he?"

"It's a her," Buffy reassured him. "The college doesn't allow mixed dorms."

"Good," Xander nodded sagely. "We have enough of you walking in on me in the shower; don't want it to happen so some freshman, you'd give the guy a heart attack."

"Xander!" Buffy mock glared at him. "We agreed never to mention that again."

"And I won't," Xander nodded back. "Cross my giant green heart." He grinned as Buffy stopped outside the room that had been marked as hers.

"Guess this is it," Buffy said as she looked around.

"So, go in already," Xander prompted her. "This box is kinda heavy, and we've got three more to bring up."

"Just taking a moment," Buffy said, pausing before opening the door and stepping inside. The room was pretty sparse, with two beds, two desks with matching chairs. Small wardrobes on each side of the room and some drawers. "Guess she's not here yet."

"Which is good," Xander reminded her as he moved into the room and placed the box on the floor before folding the papers up and tucking them into his pocket.

"Yeah, I guess," Buffy nodded. "I was kinda looking forward to meeting her though, seeing what she was like."

"Well we'll get the rest of your stuff up, then you can unpack," Xander smiled. "I'm sure she'll be around soon, everyone's moving in so she's bound to show up sooner or later."

"True," Buffy nodded as she glanced out the door to see other people moving boxes up and down the hallway into various rooms. "We'll do the chest last though; don't want to leave it here where." She gestured around to everyone.

"Yeah, don't see weapons going over well in a dorm room," Xander frowned. "Do they have inspections, or rules here, you know 'no pets, no smoking, no swords' kinda thing?"

"Don't know," Buffy shrugged. "Have to get a lock for it though, just in case."

"I'll pick one up," Xander smiled. "Shouldn't be hard to attach it on, bit of wood, some nails, be secure as houses."

"Thanks Xander," Buffy smiled at him. "More stuff then?"

"Lead on McBuff," Xander nodded as Buffy moved out of the room and back down the hallway, closing the door behind her as they left.

* * *

"Hey Willow," Xander smiled over as they came out of dropping the last box off in Buffy's new dorm room, having decided to leave the weapons chest in Xander's car for now and transport in to Xander's new house until it could be secured properly.

"Isn't it great," Willow beamed as she came over, walking arm in arm with Oz. "Everyone's moving in, getting their forms and everything."

"Yeah," Xander nodded, truth be told he was feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all, everyone seemed to be rushing around, moving in, running past with an obvious purpose, and he hadn't even given thought to what course he was taking or anything.

"How'd it go then?" Oz asked as he leaned against Xander's car, hopping up on the hood much like Xander had done while Buffy signed some last minute paperwork at admissions.

"Pretty much moved in," Xander nodded with a small smile. "I've got my appointment as admissions tomorrow morning, so I guess we'll see from there."

"Cool," Oz nodded thoughtfully. "Could try out for gym." He offered with a shrug.

"Don't think so," Xander shook his head in amusement. "I don't think they let Hulks wrestle here."

"Shame," Oz frowned. "Could do with the championship this year."

"Blame the school," Xander smiled over. "Plans for tonight?"

"Bronze?" Willow offered with a smile. "Then patrol? See how many vamps you can put into orbit again?"

"Heh," Xander grinned. "That was kinda fun, hungry though, could eat beforehand."

"Meet at the bronze?" Willow said with a smile. "We can party then patrol?"

"Buffy's coming back to mine, she said she wanted to talk with Jen about some slayer stuff, think they're going to start sparring together or something." Xander shrugged. "You want to come along, sure there's food at the house, we can head onto the bronze from there."

"Sounds like a plan," Oz nodded.

"Ohh, is Jennifer coming as well?" Willow bounced a bit at this idea. "She's fun, and strong, she could really help us."

"You have a weird fascination with my girlfriend," Xander said after a moment, staring at Willow blankly. "Should I be worried? He asked, turning to Oz.

"Possibly," Oz nodded in deadpan. "She does talk about her a lot."

"Do not," Willow slapped Oz playfully on the arm. "I just think she's fun, maybe bring her to the Bronze, on patrol, get to know her a bit more."

"I'm kidding Willow," Xander smiled at her. "I'll ask, see if she wants to come, she might already have plans."

"Oh what could be more exciting than patrol," Willow smiled with excitement.

"Again, worrying," Xander commented as Buffy came back over from the dorm offices. "Everything sorted?" He asked as she re-joined them.

"All signed and approved," Buffy nodded with a smile. "We have registration tomorrow, and class begins on Tuesday."

"So we're good," Willow smiled.

"Willow and Oz are coming with," Xander explained as he moved to get in the driver's seat of the car. "Thinking home, food, bronze then patrol?"

"Sounds good," Buffy nodded as she waited for Oz and Willow to get in the back seats before she climbed in the passenger seat and closed the door. "We should let Giles know, try and keep him in the loop. He seemed a bit meh yesterday."

"Meh?" Xander asked as he put the car in gear and drove out of the campus parking area.

"Yeah, like he was bored I guess," Buffy shrugged. "I think he misses us guys."

"We should invite him to come on patrol," Willow said with a smile. "Include him more in the slaying."

"Maybe," Buffy frowned at the idea. "Jennifer wants him to teach her martial arts as well, like he taught me, could keep him busy I guess."

The rest of the ride over was filled with chatter about Giles, college, how Oz's band was doing and what courses they were all thinking of taking, even Xander seemed to be enjoying the idea of college and his new home life. As they pulled up at the house Xander got out first, letting Oz and Willow out before he helped Buffy get her weapons chest out of the trunk.

"You know, we could always keep this here," Xander suggested as he passed Willow the house keys to open the door so they could move the weapons chest directly into the house. "We've got the room, and you can use the gym area to practice."

"I guess," Buffy nodded slowly. "I don't know though, I feel weird without a weapon nearby sometimes."

"Take a stake, a sword, the basics, just in case then," Xander shrugged as Willow opened the door. "You're welcome to come by and grab stuff anytime you need."

"It does make sense," Buffy nodded slowly. "I mean, it's safer here than on campus right?"

"Totally," Xander nodded with a smile. "Do I smell pie?" He asked out loud as they moved the chest through into the living room.

"Roast lamb," Oz nodded. "With potatoes."

"Jen, you here?" Xander called out as they placed the chest against the wall under the wallmouted TV. "Anyone?"

"Through here," Jennifer's voice called out from the next room over.

"Giles, hey," Xander waved as he walked through. "Should I be worried?" He asked, looking at the meal they were sharing with a glass of wine each.

"Hardly," Jennifer laughed as she stood up and moved over to kiss him. "Giles just came over to talk about some things; I invited him to stay for dinner."

"Hey," Buffy waved as she walked into the room with Oz and Willow. "Food? You ate without us?"

"Buffy," Giles nodded with a smile. "There is plenty left in the oven, enough to feed a small army I'd wager."

"Giles even made Yorkshire puddings, from scratch," Jennifer smiled. "I can't tell you the last time I had those, years ago."

"Yes, well, I do rather enjoy cooking, even if I don't have much time to focus on the things I'd prefer," Giles smiled as he drank a bit more of the red wine that Jennifer had brought in to enjoy with the meal. "And it was a delightful change to actually have some adult conversation over a meal for once, quite stimulating actually."

"Glad you like," Xander smiled at him. "You're not making a move on my girl are you, because I'd hate to have to go all 'grr' on you."

"Rest assured it was nothing of the sort," Giles rolled his eyes at him. "I assume you are all moved onto campus now then?" He asked, turning to Buffy.

"All done," Buffy smiled. "We've got registration in the morning, where we decide on our classes and stuff."

"Ah yes," Giles nodded with a smile. "Have you chosen your major yet?"

"I'm thinking Psych," Buffy said with a shrug after a moment. "Or history, maybe art?"

"And you Willow, Xander?" Giles asked, turning to each of them in turn. "I assume you have all read through the courses and chosen one suited best for your futures, whatever they may be."

"Don't think they do advanced destruction," Xander quipped with a smirk. "Was actually thinking Psych myself, see if I could get an inside look to this hulk thing, find out the anger stuff and try and understand it a bit more."

"A worthy idea," Giles nodded. "One that could prove useful in the future I'd wager."

"See that's what I thought," Xander nodded back. "Only in less words."

"Smart choice," Jennifer smiled at him. "Law is a good idea though, plenty of people around, they'll always need lawyers and judges."

"I was thinking computer science," Willow smiled. "Maybe Psych though, or history."

"That's a lot of psychology fans," Jennifer smiled. "At least you'll be able to share textbooks and notes."

"See, always the upside," Xander grinned as he leaned up to kiss her on the lips. "So, we're thinking Bronze then patrol, wanna come?" He asked, smiling at her.

"Love to," She smiled back. "Eat first though; help yourself to food in the oven guys." She nodded at Buffy who almost instantly took off towards the kitchen with a smile on her face. "Go ahead," She smiled at Oz and Willow who were still stood in the doorway.

"Xander, may I speak with you for a moment," Giles asked, causing Xander to pause from where he was moving off with the rest of the group. "I had a brief encounter with a man last night, who claims you are in his employ."

"Fury," Xander nodded. "Yeah, he's one of Jen's friends, kinda roped me into his thing when I got the Hulk stuff."

"I gathered as much from Jennifer here," Giles nodded slowly. "May I ask, what exactly you will be doing for him, in regards to his operation I mean."

"No clue," Xander shrugged. "I'm guessing it's something Hulk-y though, or he wouldn't have asked me right?"

"Well, obviously," Giles nodded, agreeing with the assessment.

"Other than that, he hasn't really asked for much. Wants me to go to college, he arrested my folks," Xander shook his head as Jennifer showed concern over this. "Apparently my dad was embezzling stuff from work, mom was laundering the cash for him. I guess Fury caught onto it when he started looking into Sunnydale."

"Yes, well that was probably the case," Giles sighed, sharing a meaningful glance with Jennifer out of Xander's view. "Regardless, are you ok?"

"I'm dealing," Xander shrugged. "I mean, they weren't the best parents, but they were my folks you know."

"Yes, of course," Giles smiled softly at him. "You know, if you do ever need someone to talk to." He trailed off as Xander nodded with a thankful smile on his face.

"Thanks Giles," Xander smiled. "But I'm coping, like I said. I guess they're going away for a while though, the house is up for sale and everything."

"Oh Xander," Jennifer pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry you had to find out like that."

"I'm good," Xander said, pulling back from Jennifer with a soft smile. "Really, I always figured my dad was into something dodgy, just never figured it would catch up like this. Guess you can't hide from the good guys forever right?"

"Indeed not," Giles nodded with a smile. "Go on then, get your food, we shall discuss patrol while you all eat."

* * *

"So I was thinking, you could teach us both, I mean, you know more than one right?" Buffy asked as she dug into the extra helping of potatoes and meat.

They'd all decided to eat together at the main table while Giles and Jennifer sat there just talking with the group and enjoying their wine, listening to discussions about everything from college through to Buffy's hopes for actually meeting a boy on campus.

"Indeed, I don't see the harm in allowing Jennifer to train with us, if she feels the need of course," Giles nodded with a smile. "I would be honoured to teach her the various styles I know, as long as you feel you will benefit from them as well."

"Yeah, I mean of course," Buffy nodded eagerly. "With the gym downstairs, I can get a much better work out than anywhere else, and I can spar with Jennifer and Xander regularly without having to hold back, it seems like a win win to me."

"Of course, you will still have to be careful though," Giles nodded thoughtfully. "While I don't know much about this Hulk phenomena, it seems obvious they are both far stronger and more durable that you. You have witnessed Xander's strength yourself don't forget."

"How could I, he nearly made me barf," Buffy frowned at the memory.

"Yes, I was thinking more of the incident downstairs with the weights," Giles sighed and took off his glasses. "I am curious though, is there an upper limit to a Hulk's strength, surely there must be some limit the mutation levels off at."

"I honestly couldn't tell you," Jennifer shrugged with a smile. "Bruce was always stronger than I am, by far sometimes, but he's not as strong when he starts off. I sort of stay around the same level, with Bruce it seems the angrier he gets, the stronger he gets."

"Interesting, do you believe the same would be possible for Xander?" Giles asked, fascinated by the turn in the conversation.

"He seems pretty stable to be honest," Jennifer smiled. "I guess it might be the mutation, his cells were introduced to a small amount of the gamma radiation through my blood, where as Bruce was exposed to a massive dose of it. To be honest, I just don't know, I'd suggest experimenting but wouldn't want to push the limit too far in case he does end up like Bruce."

"Let's not," Xander shook his head emphatically. "I don't need to be stronger, I mean, last night I punched a vamp and he turned to jelly, literally, it was gross."

"Oh, what about those vamps you sent into orbit?" Buffy grinned excitedly, causing Jennifer to stare at her before turning her glare to Xander.

"I thought you weren't going to start throwing vampires around," Jennifer said with a soft glare. "You never know where they might end up, a mall somewhere, downtown LA?"

"Well, I didn't exactly throw," Xander said with an apologetic grin. "More of an uppercut really, I just didn't really judge my strength properly."

"You mean to say you punched a vampire…" Giles trailed off.

"Straight up!" Willow finished off excitedly. "Weeee!" She motioned with her hand going straight up. "I wonder if it ever came down."

"My word," Giles sighed, cleaning his glasses thoroughly. "Most extraordinary, the force needed to send a vampire that far up, it must be incalculable."

"Was pretty cool to watch," Oz agreed with a nod. "And he did plant one as well."

"Plant one?" Giles asked with a sigh. "I regret I asked." He muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So, patrol?" Xander asked as Buffy finished off her potatoes, she was the last to finish as everyone else had chosen smaller portions than her, while she seemed to be revelling in the fact that Jennifer seemed to eat as much as she did.

"Sounds like a plan," Buffy nodded with a smile. "I'm thinking we skip the Bronze though, it's getting kinda late and I've still got all that paperwork to fill in for tomorrow."

"Oh, I did all mine already," Willow smiled. "I've just got to fill in my classes when I get there."

"Great, you can help me," Buffy grinned. "Weapons?"

"Is there anything specific you feel you would need?" Giles asked with a raised eyebrow. "Unless I'm mistaken, there have been no demon sightings or portents that would indicate anything other than a standard patrol."

"Yeah, there was a couple of deaths last week," Buffy shrugged. "One of them yesterday, news report said animal attack so I'm thinking vamp."

"Think he'll rise again?" Willow asked excitedly.

"Maybe," Buffy nodded. "Ohh, your first fledgling," Buffy smiled at Jennifer. "Initiation, you can stake it."

"I've dealt with vampires before Buffy," Jennifer laughed.

"Yeah, but not with us," Buffy pouted. "I'll even let you use Mr Pointy."

"Her favourite stake," Xander whispered to Jennifer with a smile. "She's the Slayer, think of this as a gift, letting you stake one for her."

"Ok then," Jennifer nodded with a smile. "I've been meaning to try the hammer out Reed sent, did the axe work alright last night?"

"Wouldn't know," Xander said with a shrug. "Kinda stuck with the old fist approach, worked pretty well."

"You can try it tonight then," Jennifer smiled as she stood up from the table. "If you're not going to use it, you can give it up Buffy I guess."

"I'll use it," Xander grinned as Buffy pouted at him.

"You two should learn to share your toys," Jennifer grinned over at their antics. "You're both adults now remember, I'm sure Buffy is strong enough to use it effectively."

"She can use your hammer then," Xander suggested with a grin.

"Ohhh, can I?" Buffy asked, bouncing out of her seat with an excited smile on her face.

"Let me try it first," Jennifer nodded at her. "Afterwards, we'll see."

"See, Jennifer shares," Buffy said, sticking her tongue out towards Xander.

"Fine," Xander stuck his tongue out in return. "You can try the axe if you want, it's not as if I really need it to do damage."

"Indeed not," Giles sighed at their antics. "May I ask, what happens when you become the Hulk, I assume it's different for you both, what happens when, Bruce was it? Becomes the Hulk?"

"Insurance agencies go bankrupt," Jennifer said with a shrug before she walked out of the room with her plate to return it to the kitchen.

"Xander?" Giles asked, turning to him. "What is it like, transforming like that; I imagine it's something akin to what Oz goes through."

"Bigger," Oz nodded with a small smile.

"It's weird, like I have to focus on something that makes me angry, then it's like the feeling just fills me up and pushes out." Xander trailed off. "It's hard to explain Giles; I guess unless you experience it, you can't really understand it."

"Like trying to explain colour to the blind," Giles mused thoughtfully. "Yes, I can well imagine. Fair enough then, off you go for patrol, I shall tidy up here."

"I'll do it later," Jennifer said as she came back into the room to fetch more plates.

"Nonsense, you were kind enough to invite me to join you for the meal, the least I can do is clean up while you are on patrol." Giles smiled at her reassuringly. "Please, go ahead, I shall be fine here."

"If you're sure," Jennifer said slowly.

"Of course," Giles smiled at her. "I shall lock up when I leave."

"Ok, as long as you're fine with it," Jennifer smiled. "The back door locks automatically when you shut it, so."

"Then I shall be fine," Giles smiled. "I assume you will be patrolling Restfield, south of the campus?"

"That's the plan," Buffy nodded as she grabbed her coat off the back of her chair.

"Very well then, good hunting to you all." Giles nodded as Xander grabbed his axe from the side shelf in the living room where he was keeping it until he could find a proper home for it.

"Yup," Xander grinned. "Time to go smash something."

"You know, I'm pretty sure Bruce has the whole 'Hulk Smash' thing copyrighted." Jennifer smiled as she followed Xander and Buffy out of the door, with Willow and Oz following them.

"Really? Can you copyright a saying?" Xander asked in bemusement.

"Do you want to argue with him about it?" Jennifer asked with a smirk. "I could call him, see if he'd like to come and talk with you."

"That's fine," Xander said quickly, the thought of The Hulk in Sunnydale scaring him more than slightly. "Hulk pulverize?" Xander offered as they started walking over towards the cemetery Buffy had chosen to patrol. "Hulk punch? Oh come on." He sighed. "Hulk Cowabunga?" He asked, causing everyone to raise their eyebrows collectively at him. "What? They're green." He justified to the group as they continued walking.


End file.
